On the Theories of Secularism and Modernization

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This volume is a collection of Saran's texts dealing with the theme of secularism, secularization and modernization, which were mostly worked on during the decade between the mid-1960s and the mid-1970s. There are largely three focal points of analysis through these works: conceptual analysis of the meaning of secularism; historical analysis of the secularization process of India; and logical analysis of the idea of modernization.

For the clarification of the often confused, wide-ranging meanings of secularism, Saran presents three conceptual principles: contemporaneity, co-existence, and autonomy, to which roughly correspond the theological, the political and the economic philosophic contexts of interpretation, respectively. The main thrust of his argument is that though the contemporaneity theory of secularism is inherently ambiguous, this and the next, co-existence interpretation-which is embraced in India with peculiar eagerness in the idea of Sarva Dharma Samabhava-eventually lead to the third, autonomous-humanist interpretation, which is radically incompatible with the religious worldview.

The historical analysis, on the other hand, traces the development of secularism, together with that of counter-secular forces, in the specific formation of Indian history: particularly, the inherent inner tension of the nationalist movement which was inevitably intertwined with the religious revivalism is focused on-the revolutionary significance of Gandhi's approach to this problem and the profound implications of his failure (and the rejection of him by the independent India) are examined in this connection.

The logical analysis of the idea of "modernization", which reveals the internal contradiction of the very idea, is the theme which Saran more fully elaborated in his later works: the brief discussion presented in this volume points to the deeper reason why "modemization" adopted by non-Western countries could never be "contemporaneous".

Professor A. K. Saran (1922-2003) is known as one of the most radical spokesmen of Tradition in today's world. Following contemporary exponents of Philosophia Perennis such as Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, René Guénon, Marco Pallis and Frithjof Schuon, Saran especially took on the negative side of the task as his vocation-i.e. breaking of the "spell" by which modern man has been deluded into the suicidal pursuit of a mirage, becoming utterly forgetful of who he is and of the eternal truths that Tradition embodies.

Serving for a long time as a teacher in the fields of social sciences at various universities both at home and abroad, Saran's consistent endeavor was, thus, to work out thorough internal critique of those pseudo thought systems of modernity. This internal critique critique proceeding dialectically from within the very system that is being critiqued is of a quite unique kind: in spite of certain seeming similarities, Saran's critique of modernity is totally distinct from fashionable discourses like that of "alternative outlook", "new age", "postmodem", or "postcolonialism"-all of which, for Saran, are simply new devices for masking the truth.

What characterizes Saran's thinking, in a word, is its dialectic-the one which enables him to go to the very root of the matter while at the same time remaining truthful to the absolute incommunicability of the Mysterium Magnum.

CIHTS is bringing out his Collected Works under the Samyag-Väk Special Series. So far ten volumes have been published. Forthcoming volumes include:

• Hinduism in Contemporary India

• Sociology in India Critique of Positivism

• Sociology in Crisis

**Contents and Sample Pages**