The nineteen essays that constitute Tradition and Truth reflect the philosophical and life sojourn of Professor Sankari Prasad Banerjee, an acclaimed philosopher and teacher, who held the Acharya Brojendranath Seal Chair of Mental and Moral Philosophy at the University of Calcutta. The incisive essays explore critical themes ranging from the phenomenology of human relations, higher positivism, and the meanings of metaphysics to democracy, tolerance, and secularism; from freedom and self-expression, alienation, and one-dimensionality to Advaita Vedanta and Neo-Vedanta, the meaning of life and the ‘surplus-in-man’, as well as ageing, death and religion. Together, they reveal the profound humanity of a deeply compassionate intellectual.

The essays reflect his sustained efforts to bring philosophy, and the work of philosophers, closer to social life, social relations, and lived conditions. This conviction and passion led Banerjee to draw upon and move beyond Marx, to critique both Advaita and positivism, and to emphasize the viability of alternative philosophical standpoints. In doing so, he perhaps unconsciously constructed a form of philosophical anthropology grounded in an empathetic understanding of human existence. Together, these essays constitute the record of a kind and perceptive individual’s response to life and society, one that opens pathways for further reflection and research.