Weighing in on the God debate: Why we need transdisciplinary, dialectical and multicultural perspectives

Description

Among the earliest usage of the word God comes from the sixth century Christian manuscript “Codex Argenteus”. The English word itself is thought to have been derived from the Proto-Germanic word “Guđan”. The English word God along with its counterparts in other languages is used for virtually all conceptions and the term remains an English translation common to all conceptions of religion. This is in spite of the fact that there are many significant differences across religions. It is sometimes used to describe a formless irreligious God associated with nature. This usage is relatively more recent however, and is said to have originated from the ideas of Baruch Spinoza, who was a pantheist. Among the Jews, the word Yahweh was used to mean God, while Muslims and Hindus use the term Allah and Brahman respectively. Other religions use different names; for example, in the Chinese religion, Shangdi is referred to as the creator of the universe, while in Zoroastrianism, the term Ahura Mazda is used. The term Waheguru is used by the Sikhs to refer to a great teacher, while the Baha’i use the term Baha..........

About the Author

Sujay Rao Mandavilli is an IT professional (Governance Risk and Compliance) (Still practising as of 2024; Served major clients such as Tata Group, Mahindra Group, NECAM, Verizon and BAT, and also previously worked in IBM) and a born-again Anthropologist, researcher, and post-colonial thinker with major contributions to various fields of Anthropology and Social Sciences. He completed his Masters in Anthropology from the prestigious Indira Gandhi National Open University in New Delhi, India in 2020 with a first class. He has made major contributions to Anthropological Economics, the Sociology of Science, theories of socio-cultural change, Identity theory, Historiography, language dynamics, scientific method, Indo-European studies, the Aryan Problem, and the identity of the Harappans. His hypothesis is that most fields of Social sciences which are based on a study on social and cultural variables, are based on old Eurocentric paradigms, and that better theories can only come from intellectual multipolarity, and Ethnographic data collected from different parts of the world. He believes this will lead to better scientific research, and greatly boost scientific output in different parts of the world that have hitherto lagged behind the West in scientific research. He has also attempted to synthesize Anthropological theory with other fields of Social Sciences such as Economics and Pedagogy, generating several new paradigms as a result. He strongly believes that the ‘Globalization of Science’, with a particular emphasis on the social sciences, must become one of the major movements of the Twenty-first century. He has called for an "Indian Enlightenment" as well as similar renaissances in the developing world through a horizontal collaboration among developing nations. He is the Founder-Director of the Institute for the Study of the Globalization of Science (ISGOS) (Registered in India as the Globalization of Science Trust) which is has already started empaneling a group of researchers and scientists to plan its next course of action. In 2023, he launched the "Scholars and intellectuals for mankind" (SCHIMA) forum, which is reaching out to scholars and intellectuals from throughout the world to draft a common agenda. In 2024, he also created the blog "Abhilasha: This is not Utopia" to discuss burning and pressing issues of the day, particularly in relation to science, knowledge and society.

Ratings & Reviews