ICPR Periodic Lecture

Off The Cuff – Extempore Competition

On the 17^th of this month, Sophia Club conducted an extempore competition where the speakers were judged both on their knowledge of philosophy and the ability to express their thoughts. The competition was held in two stages. 

The judges of the extempore

The first stage, which was the qualifying round was a quiz on modern and Indian philosophy. The quiz was mind grilling and six out of ten teams qualified for the next round that was the extempore. The extempore was a little different than the conventional kind as a team of speakers had to take a topic each from the two topic bowls and the second speaker had to connect to what the first speaker had delivered. The topic bowls had a number of topics like women of today, social media in a democracy, Donald Trump’s presidency, Indian education system and many more which were worked upon with meticulous effort by the speakers. 

First Stage : Quiz

The event was judged by Dr. Anthony sir and Prof. Robin sir who had a tough time judging as all the speakers spoke very well. 

The winners were announced to be Paras Chhetri and Neha Kangralkar.  The first runner up were Sankalp Pareek and Ritisha Gupta and the second runner up were Devansh Agarwal and Ashish Rariya. 

Dr. Anthony and Prof. Robin

After the event, Dr. Anthony sir and Prof. Robin sir congratulated all the participants for their pensive thoughts and scrupulous efforts put into each topic. Dr. Anthony sir and Prof. Robin sir were presented with a small token of gratitude by the office bearers of Sophia Club for their support in conducting the ongoing activities of the club.

The Winners

The Second Runner Up

The First Runner Up

 

Group Photo of the Organizers and the Participants.

Report on guest lecture on “Ecological Citizenship and Ethical Burial”

The Dept. of Arts (Philosophy), SHSS, supported by Sophia Club, Manipal University Jaipur had organized a guest lecture on the topic “Ecological Citizenship and Ethical Burial” which was attended by students and faculty members of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in large numbers. The speaker for the lecture was Dr. William Sweet, Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Philosophy,

Theology and Cultural Traditions at St Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia, Canada. Dr. Anthony sir, Professor of Philosophy and HOD of Dept. of Arts, welcomed and introduced the speaker. Dr. William Sweet was honored by Prof. Manju Singh ma’am, Director, School of Humanities and Social Sciences and Dr. Anthony sir.

 

The lecture started with Dr. William Sweet sir emphasizing on the importance of ecological citizenship. The humanity is going through an increasing ecological crisis. In response, a number of governments have adopted a number of policies. The lecturer also stressed on the seven basic claims of ecological citizenship. There is no fundamental difference between origin of humanity and the origin of life. Basic ecological values and all natural things  are inherently related. All life should exist in ecological balance. Ecological citizenship theory recognizes limits of resources on earth. Given population size, ongoing population growth and growing industrialization, there is a need to safeguard the natural environment. Human beings over the course of their existence have come to require a number of desires, abilities and powers. There is always desire for gaining more in life and these desires only end in death. Human beings should control desires and use technology to return humanity to a level of existence that establishes and maintains ecological balance.

 

Human beings like to celebrate death. The value of a person’s life is measured by how big and extravagant a funeral is organized for them; the bigger the tomb, the more important the person. Ethical burial accentuates the proper relationship between human and nature. There is an increasing need to protect and preserve the land effected by traditional burial practices so that the environment can return to its previous state. Green burial is not only important for respect of nature but also for respect of human beings. Our lives are just appreciated for its materialistic values. The quality of living has been reduced, and why, just because of our insatiable need for materialistic and profligate living.

 
 

A well-ordered ecological environment can only become a reality if there are adequate resources, diverse species, efficient energy and a balanced ecology. There has to be harmony between nature and human. Every year around ten million people die in one part of the world. Just imagine what amount of perfectly good land is wasted if approximately two sq. meters of land is used to bury a person. Green burial needs to be put into practice so that we can hope for a better future as it will provide us with more farmland, clean water and more resources. Resources we have now are not for us to exploit but to share with the future generation.

After the lecture was concluded, an interactive Q&A session followed. Dr. William sir was then offered a memento from Sophia Club. The vote of thanks was given by Dr. Robin Luke sir, Assistant Prof. of Philosophy, Dept. of Arts.

A GUEST LECTURE

On

“Ecological Citizenship and Ethical Burial”

By

Dr. William Sweet

Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Philosophy, Theology and Cultural Traditions 

St Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia, Canada. 

Time & Venue : 12 - 1 pm, 12th January (Thursday), 2017  

Venue : TSB Seminar Hall, IInd floor, Admin Block

Dr. Prof. William Sweet

Dr William Sweet is Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Philosophy, Theology and Cultural Traditions at St Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia, Canada.  He is a member of the Faculty of Graduate Studies at the University of Ottawa, and an Adjunct Professor in the graduate programmes at Saint Paul University, the Dominican University College (Ottawa), and the University of New Brunswick. He currently serves as President of the World Union of Catholic Philosophical Societies, Vice President of the Council for Research and Values in Philosophy, Treasurer of the Canadian Theological Society, and as a member of the Steering Committee of the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie. He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and the Royal Historical Society. 

About the Lecture : 

The concept of green burial reflects a number of the values underlying "eco-civilization" and ecological citizenship: respect for nature, respect for humanity, and the ecologically-sensitive rational awareness of the "harmony between nature (天= Tien) and humanity (人= Ren), as in the saying "天人合一" Tian Ren He Yi = "Nature and human beings combine into an integral whole"). The practice of green burial can play a valuable role in promoting the construction of an eco-civilization, although many people in China - and elsewhere - may be reluctant to accept it. One reason for this may be that the concept and practice of green burial are so new that it does not yet have a place in the ecological awareness of China's citizens, who are the main subjects of the construction of eco-civilization. It is necessary to increase citizen awareness of green burials and their value, and to encourage people to participate in the practice. This is a reflection of the values that underlie ecological citizenship, but also serves to promote these values.