The Essential Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (The Perennial Philosophy Series)

Cover; About This Book; Series Page; Title Page; Copyright Page; Table of Contents; List of Color Illustrations; List of Black-and-White Illustrations; List of Abbreviations; Foreword; Introduction; Prologue -- A Fateful Meeting of Minds: A.K. Coomaraswamy and R. Guénon; 1. A Figure of Speech or a Figure of Thought?; 2. The Bugbear of Literacy; 3. On the Pertinence of Philosophy; 4. Eastern Wisdom and Western Knowledge; 5. Beauty and Truth; 6. The Interpretation of Symbols; 7. Why Exhibit Works of Art?; 8. The Christian and Oriental, or True, Philosophy of Art.;A new collection of essays by the great traditionalist/perennialist Ananda K. Coomaraswamy. This collection has been edited by his son, Rama Coomaraswamy, who is well known for his writings on the Christian tradition. The Essential Ananda K. Coomaraswamy contains 21 essays on topics reflecting the vast scope of Coomaraswamy's intellect, including those topics with which he is most associated, such as symbolism, Eastern vs. Western thinking, mythology, literature, metaphysics, traditional art, folklore, and even more. About This Book 2 Series Page 4 Title Page 6 Copyright Page 7 Table of Contents 8 List of Color Illustrations 9 List of Black-and-White Illustrations 9 List of Abbreviations 10 Foreword 14 Introduction 16 Prologue - A Fateful Meeting of Minds: A. K. Coomaraswamy and R. Guénon 22 1. A Figure of Speech or a Figure of Thought? 36 2. The Bugbear of Literacy 68 3. On the Pertinence of Philosophy 82 4. Eastern Wisdom and Western Knowledge 102 5. Beauty and Truth 112 6. The Interpretation of Symbols 118 7. Why Exhibit Works of Art? 126 8. The Christian and Oriental, or True, Philosophy of Art 138 9. Is Art a Superstition, or a Way of Life? 168 10. The Nature of Medieval Art 188 11. Ars sine scientia nihil 192 12. Imitation, Expression, and Participation 196 13. Samvega: “Aesthetic Shock” 208 14. What is Civilization? 216 15. The Nature of “Folklore” and “Popular Art” 228 16. Primitive Mentality 240 17. The Coming to Birth of the Spirit 262 18. Quod factum est in ipso vita erat 276 19. The Hindu Tradition 282 20. The Hindu Tradition 290 Glossary of Foreign Terms and Phrases 306 Bibliographical References 310 Biographical Notes 314 Index 316 Examples of Sacred and Traditional Art 328 Cover About This Book Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Color Illustrations List of Black-and-White Illustrations List of Abbreviations Foreword Introduction Prologue -- A Fateful Meeting of Minds: A.K. Coomaraswamy and R. Guénon 1. A Figure of Speech or a Figure of Thought? 2. The Bugbear of Literacy 3. On the Pertinence of Philosophy 4. Eastern Wisdom and Western Knowledge 5. Beauty and Truth 6. The Interpretation of Symbols 7. Why Exhibit Works of Art? 8. The Christian and Oriental, or True, Philosophy of Art. 9. Is Art a Superstition, or a Way of Life?10. The Nature of Medieval Art 11. Ars sine scientia nihil 12. Imitation, Expression, and Participation 13. Samvega: "Aesthetic Shock" 14. What is Civilization? 15. The Nature of "Folklore" and "Popular Art" 16. Primitive Mentality 17. The Coming to Birth of the Spirit 18. Quod factum est in ipso vita erat 19. The Hindu Tradition 20. The Hindu Tradition Glossary of Foreign Terms and Phrases Bibliographical References Biographical Notes Index Examples of Sacred and Traditional Art.

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy was engaged in the world not only as a scholarly expositor of traditional culture and philosophy, but also as a radical critic of contemporary life.