Pre/Co-requisite: The Law, the Classics, and the Scriptures

This one-credit course compares basic themes in the civilization of India with parallel themes in the civilization of the West, with emphasis in both cases on their relevance to contemporary law. The initial focus will be on how the values embodied in the Scriptures of India’s two main indigenous religions, Hinduism and Buddhism, each formed the basis for a multi-ethnic imperial civilization. The course will then look for parallels between these regimes and the ideal of the Western republican tradition: rule by the wise for the common good. It will also examine two matters near the core of Indian religion that are more peripheral in the West: mysticism and meditation. Finally, the course will examine claims, like those of Max Weber, that the values of traditional Indian civilization have undermined the cultural prerequisites of advanced capitalism, and the reaction of Indian thinkers to Western thought.

This course will be offered in springs alternating with the offering of Law and the Chinese Classics. Students who take either course may also take the other.