Homo Philosophicus

Why does philosophy matter? How does it influence ordinary lives and individual actions across the world? What makes ideas that originated centuries ago relevant today, in an age that is redefining the idea of the human? And, relatedly, there is the question that philosophers have long struggled with: what does it mean to be human?

Sundar Sarukkai explores these ideas and more in this unique account of philosophy. The outcome of three decades of teaching the subject to a wide range of students and interested others, the book focuses attention on what it is to think philosophically, why philosophers produce the narratives they do, and how philosophical ideas enter the realm of the everyday. Drawing from Indian, Western, Chinese and other world philosophies, it presents a unified picture of how philosophy can help us engage with language, gender, class, caste and other issues of the contemporary world. With fascinating insights and historical examples that provoke as well as guide, Sarukkai tells another story of philosophy, sweeping yet rigorous.

Homo Philosophicus is an invitation to learn, and engage with, the art of philosophical thinking and practice.