The First Asian Philosophy Congress 2010 ASIAN PHILOSOPHY Prologue to the Congress We are pleased to announce that the First Asian Philosophy Congress is scheduled to be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, during March 6-9, 2010. We invite you to participate in it and join us in reflecting on the rich intellectual traditions of the East.

Asia is the land of many traditions and the home of several major religions of the world. Yet there is some distinctiveness about Asian philosophies. It is that Asian philosophies are intimately tied to life itself rather than removed from it. Philosophy is not understood in the sense of a purely intellectual pursuit. Rather it is laced with the beliefs and practices of people. Thus the intellectual tapestry in this part of the world is an interesting blend of thought and practices. For this reason it is sometimes misunderstood as religious thought and not philosophy proper. For example, the German philosopher Edmund Husserl denigrated the Indian, Chinese and other Asian Philosophies which he thought fostered a mythical-religious attitude that sets practical goals.

Asian philosophies are intrinsically applied. For example, we find in India philosophy embedded in multiple disciplines - medical (Caraka-samhita), politics and economics (Kautilya's Arthasastra), art (Bharata's Natyasastra), law (Manu's Dharma-sastra) and so on. Philosophy is quintessentially a wisdom discipline. Its goal is improving human conditions and seeking perfection to the person.

In some ways, the exposure to Western thought, instead of expanding the base and scope of Asian philosophies tended to narrow their field. In the process, they seem to have lost their identity along with the erosion of their cultural base. This Congress is an attempt to explore the common roots of Asian thought and the manifest diversities as distinct branches growing out of the same roots. In this search for Asian identity we hope that we learn on the one hand the rich and yet diverse contributions of the constituent traditions of Asia and on the other hand their binding commonalities. The emerging perception of unity in diversity would, we hope, help build the intellectual bond that binds together the people of the continent.

The Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR) took the initiative to organize the First Asian Philosophy Congress. This is not a one-time event but to be followed by successive conferences to be held in different countries of Asia. The co-sponsors of this event include UNESCO, NEW Delhi office, Rashtriya Sanskrit Samsthan (Deemed University), New Delhi, ICCR, New Delhi, Somaiya Institute, Mumbai, Nav Nalanda Mahavihara (Deemed University), Nalanda (Bihar) and other sister organizations.

The congress will consist of invited lectures and special symposia with presentations by eminent persons and researchers from various academic and research institutes across the Continent, as well as contributed papers by International scholars. The Congress will conclude with discussions to create the necessary institutional structure and a permanent secretariat for promoting Asian philosophies in perpetuity.