Upanisads And Edith Stein

The aim of this book, is to explore anew a dialogue to nurture east-west nuances such as inter-cultural, inter-philosophical and interreligious perspectives which constitute towards an integral understanding of the human person which is being questioned even at the early decades of third millenium. For this study the author has selected three upanisads, based on their doctrinal content with respect to the questions they deal with about the world, as well as about God and man. The book is in three parts, the first two of which are composed of three chapters while the third part has two chapters. The first part seeks to enquire into the profound wisdom of an ancient philosophical heritage, which may have been to some extent forgotten or misunderstood due to its almost inevitable intermingling with cult and rituals. The Brahad-aranyaka and the Chandogya Upanisads are more extensive, their combined perspectives on the individual self [atman], the cosmos and the Universal Self [Brahman] are alternately discussed throughout the first chapter, while their understanding, are treated in the second chapter. The investigation of the Isa Upanisad in the third chapter attempts to answer the question whether the nature of the Upanisadic person is fundamental or rather merely transitory, substantiating such views by means of cross references to the principal Upanisads. Subsequently, the fourth chapter (of Part Two) retrace the major lines pertaining to the development of an authentic philosophy of the person in the works of Edith Stein. The core of the fifth chapter is concerned with the phenomenology of the person as postulated by Edith Stein in her preliminary studies on Empathy. Chapter six outlines the essential features of the finite person as determined by Edith Stein, including its sense of individuality and the analogical nature of its meaning. Third Part offers a dynamic understanding of the way human persons are valued and respected both in the East as well as in the West.