The Argumentative Indian - Choice of Techniques - Collective Choice and Social Welfare

Sep 21, 2026

A collection of Amartya Sen’s essays exploring Indian history, culture, and identity through the lens of India’s long argumentative tradition. The preface frames India’s diversity and explains that focusing on heterodoxy and dialogue is a deliberate selection shaped by historical depth, contemporary relevance, and relative neglect in cultural discussions. It discusses politically charged debates such as the role of “ancient India,” contrasting Hindutva enthusiasm with integrationist suspicion and their uses of texts like the Vedas and the Ramayana.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages426

Reading Time10 h 56 min

AccessFree to download

Preface

Diacritical Notation for Sanskrit Words

PART ONE: Voice and Heterodoxy

The Argumentative Indian

Inequality, Instability and Voice

India: Large and Small

The Diaspora and the World

PART TWO: Culture and Communication

Tagore and His India

Our Culture, Their Culture

Indian Traditions and the Western Imagination

China and India

PART THREE: Politics and Protest

Tryst with Destiny

Class in India

Women and Men

India and the Bomb

PART FOUR: Reason and Identity

The Reach of Reason

Secularism and Its Discontents

India through Its Calendars

The Indian Identity

Notes

Index of Names

General Index

THE ARGUMENTATIVE INDIAN (">-•. ·•􀂄 WRITINGS ON INDIAN HISTORY, CULTURE AND IDENTITY • • "-"• •"' AMARTYA SEN WI NNER OF THE NOBEL PRI Z. E IN ECONOMICS THE ARGUMENTATIVE INDIAN WRITINGS ON INDIAN HISTORY, CULTURE AND IDENTITY AMARTYA SEN FARRAR , S T RAU S AND GIROUX 􀂃 NEW YORK Choice of Techniques Collective Choice and Social Welfare On Economic Inequality Poverty and Famines ChoiceJ Welfare and Measurement ResourcesJ Values and Development Commodities and Capabilities On Ethics and Economics Inequality Reexamined Development as Freedom Rationality and Freedom The Argumentative Indian Farrar, Straus and Giroux I9 Union Square West, New York Iooo3 Copyright© 2005 by Amartya Sen All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Originally published in 2005 by Penguin Books Ltd., Great Britain Published in the United States by Farrar, Straus and Giroux First American edition, 2oo5 Earlier versions of some of the essays in this book have appeared in the following publications: The New York Review of Books, Essays 5, 8, I3 ; as Our Culture, Their Culture (Calcutta: Nandan, I99 6), Essay 6 (abridged earlier version}; The New Republic, Essays 6 (abridged earlier version), I2; Daedalus, Essay 7; Financial Times, Essay 9; Kaushik Basu and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, eds., Unravelling the Nation: Sectarian Conflict and India's Secular Identity (Delhi: Penguin, I99 6}, Essay I4; Little Magazine, Essay I5. The publishers are grateful for permission to reproduce the following illustrations: Tagore and Gandhi at Santiniketan,© Akg-Images; 'Xuanzang [Hiuan-tsang] returning to China with Sanskrit manuscripts from India in 645 AD', © Fujita Museum of Art, Osaka; 'Arjuna hits the target', © British Library, London. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sen, Amartya. The argumentative Indian : writings on Indian history, culture and identity I by Amartya Sen. -Ist American ed. p. em. Includes index. ISBN-I3 : 978-o-3 74-I0583-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN-Io: o-374-I0583-9 (hardcover : alk. paper) I. India-Civilization. I. Title. DS423 .S33 8 2005 954-dc22 2005049460 [www.fsgbooks.com](www.fsgbooks.com)[ ](www.fsgbooks.com)3 5 7 9 IO 8 6 4 2 To my sister, Supurna Datta Contents Preface IX Diacritical Notation for Sanskrit Words XIX PART ONE Voice and Heterodoxy I. The Argumentative Indian 3 2. Inequality, Instability and Voice 34 3. India: Large and Small 45 4· The Diaspora and the World 73 PART TWO Culture and Communication 5 . Tagore and His India 6. Our Culture, Their Culture I2I 7· Indian Traditions and the Western Imagination I 39 8. China and India I6I PART THREE Politics and Protest 9 · Tryst with Destiny I9 3 Io. Class in India 204 CONTENTS II. Women and Men 220 I2 . India and the Bomb 2 5 1 PART FOUR Reason and Identity . ·IJ. The Reach of Reason 2 7 3 I4. Secularism and Its Discontents 294 rs. India through Its Calendars 3 17 I6 . The Indian Identity 33 4 Notes 35 7 Index of Names 39 3 General Index 401 Vlll Preface These essays on India were written over the last decade-about half of them over the last couple of years. The first four, which make up the first part of the collection, introduce and explain the principal themes pursued in this book, related to India's long argumentative tradition. India is an immensely diverse country with many distinct pursuits, vastly disparate convictions, widely divergent customs and a veritable feast of viewpoints. Any attempt to talk about the culture of the country, or about its past history or contemporary politics, must inescapably involve considerable selection. I need not, therefore, labour the point that the focus on the argumentative tradition in this work is also a result of choice. It does not reflect a belief that this is the only reasonable way of thinking about the history or culture or politics of India. I am very aware that t

FAQs

What is the central focus of the essays in The Argumentative Indian?

The essays focus on India’s long argumentative tradition, using it to connect history, culture, and contemporary politics through heterodoxy and dialogue.

Why does the author choose this specific perspective on India?

The preface says the selection is driven by the tradition’s long history, its contemporary relevance, and its relative neglect in ongoing cultural discussions.

How does the book discuss the “ancient India” debate in contemporary politics?

It contrasts Hindutva supporters, who invoke ancient texts to define “real heritage,” with integrationists who view such returns to ancient India with suspicion and critique the selective use of sources.

Sep 21, 2026

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