This seminar will examine the historical significance of the ascetic, both as a figure in politics as well as an ideal that has radically transformed the way politics is understood. A key goal of the seminar is to examine the dialogue between Indian and European theories of asceticism over the longue durée. Readings will include reflections on asceticism by well-known figures like the Buddha, Krishna (in the Bhagavad Gita), Plato, Sankara, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Gandhi, Weber, and Foucault, alongside lesser-known writers like Kautilya, Bankim, Savarkar, and Sahajanand Saraswati. |