Eclecticism and modern Hindu discourse

by Brian A. Hatcher

In this new book, Brian Hatcher examines the modern Hindu penchant for constructing religious worlds in an eclectic fashion. Noting how Hindu apologists from Rammohun Roy to Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan make an almost promiscuous use of the world's many philosophies and religions to define and defend Hinduism, Hatcher sets out to explore the ancient roots and contemporary significance of such eclectic borrowing. A discussion of the Vedic and classical roots of Hindu eclecticism affords Hatcher the opportunity to reflect upon the profound and widespread role of eclecticism in South Asian religion, while consideration of the work of Swami Vivekananda - as well as a variety of religious reformers from nineteenth-century Bengal - suggests the ongoing significance of the phenomenon in colonial and postcolonial contexts.