In Search of Truth
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Description
“It became clear to me that there was such a thing as truth, and there was such a thing as justice, and that they could be found, and being found, could be taught.” These were the words of Leon MacLaren, founder of the School of Economic Science, on the origin of this remarkable institution, now in its eighth decade. Brian Hodgkinson brings his historian’s skills and philosophic insight fully to bear in telling the story of those eight decades. It’s a story he tells with verve and wit, and in fascinating detail. The story starts in the economic crisis of the 1930s. The school had its roots in the economic theories of Henry George and the land tax campaigns championed by Leon’s father, the Labour MP, Andrew MacLaren. The School’s subsequent development unfolds in a series of meeting and discoveries. It met with the teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky in the 1950s, leading to a change of course towards Philosophy. This was reinforced by meeting the Maharishi and discovering meditation. The greatest influence came in 1965, from meeting the Indian sage Sri Shantananda Saraswati, the Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math. His spiritual advice to the School over almost thirty years is beautifully expounded in a series of chapters interspersed through the book. Later came a flowering of related activities: the fruits included art, Sanskrit, music, Renaissance studies, and children’s education. The School also met criticism and controversy on the way; Hodgkinson relates these episodes fairly and dispassionately. Hundreds of thousands have attended the School’s courses in the UK and in affiliated schools around the world. Some have stayed for a term or two, others have devoted their adult lives to the School. In Search of Truth helps explain why they do, and why they hold the School in such high regard.Author description
Brian Hodgkinson has been a member of the school of Economic Science since 1963. His interest in practical Philosophy, and in particular in Advaita Vedanta as the principal teaching of the School, remains unabated. Concurrently he has studied modern academic Philosophy, taking a degree in Philosophy, Politics and economics at Balliol College, Oxford and lecturing in Philosophy at Sussex University. How the ancient wisdom of India may be extensively introduced into the culture of the West he regards as the most fundamental challenge of our time. More recently he has taught Economics and History at St James’ Independent Schools, having studied and tutored these within the School of Economic Science. Through the School, also, he was introduced to Sanskrit. He has published a verse translation of the Bhagavad Gita, and books on Indian Philosophy, Ancient History and Economics. He now lives in oxford with his wife Catherine, and has a son who teaches classics.Stock Information
General Fields
- : 9780856832765
- : Shepheard-Walwyn (Publishers) Ltd
- : Shepheard-Walwyn (Publishers) Ltd
- : February 2011
- : 156mm x 234mm
- : books
Special Fields
- : 352
- : Hardback
- : Brian Hodgkinson
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