Arts

27 Nov 09

Scholars of Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy are gathering at Oxford University this week to mark the 140th anniversary of his birth with a special conference on the spiritual beliefs of the former Indian leader.

He is known as the great politician, but a common theme will be that he regarded his politics as totally subordinate to spiritual development. It will be asked whether these two concerns were complementary, or rather incompatible.

Professor Richard Sorabji, one of the conference organisers, said: 'Gandhi is best known for his contribution to politics but what is less well known is that he had a much stronger preference for the non-political. Gandhi sought to combine politics with an inner development that was moral, not political. His political actions depended on that development, they could be called off if they violated it, they subserved it, and ideally they would be superseded if once political action became unnecessary.

'But are such moral and political goals even compatible? The ancient Stoics tried to show how, but can Gandhi?

'The question brings out Gandhi’s interest as a philosopher in his own right. His philosophical interest was first made accessible in a three-volume collection of his work made in Oxford by Ragovan Iyer in 1986-7.

'This year, the 140th anniversary of Gandhi’s birth, a new edition is due to appear of the hundred volumes of his Collected Works.'

The event includes a talk on Gandhi: Morality in the shadow of politics by Dr Faisal Devji,  Reader in Indian History at St Antony’s, and Professor Kanti Bajpai, University Lecturer in the Politics and International Relations of South Asia at Wolfson College, will discuss Gandhian thought and its implications for international relations.

Both academics are new appointments to Oxford and their research draws attention to both Gandhi’s political and his philosophical importance.

Professor Sorabji, an Honorary Fellow of Wolfson and member of the Faculty of Philosophy, will discuss Gandhi and the Stoics: squaring emotional detachment with universal love and political objectives.

The conference will be held on Friday 27 November at 2.15pm in the Haldane Room in Wolfson College, and on Saturday 28 November at 10.30am in the Dahrendorf Room in St Antony’s College. It is sponsored by Wolfson College and the Asian Studies Centre of St Antony’s College and is open to all, subject to room capacity.