Sen in Calcutta on Saturday. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Calcutta, July 30: India is more spiritual but the West thinks better. Right?

Wrong, says Amartya Sen.

In his latest book, The Argumentative Indian, the Nobel laureate has challenged notions that the West has an “exclusive access” to values at the foundation of rationality and reasoning while religion, faith and spirituality are the comparative advantages of Indian tradition.

“When imperialism occurred and Britain took charge of India, there was a general notion that they were superior in science and technology and spirituality was picked up as our weapon,” Sen said while speaking to The Telegraph about his book this evening.

“This comparative advantage did somehow de-appreciate India’s scientific, mathematical, technical and rationalist tradition.”

The economist has highlighted India’s achievements in mathematics, astronomy, linguistics, medicine and political economy and traced the history of arguments in Indian tradition.

The former Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and now Lamont University Professor at Harvard is in town for a talk on “Ancient Argument and Modern Democracy” tomorrow at Nandan.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will formally release the book ? woven around essays and lectures on topics like secularism, gender inequality, class and caste relations, the Indian diaspora and western views of India ? on Monday in Delhi.

According to Sen, the diversity of views and faiths and competing ideas that have always coexisted in India and survived over the years has led to a tolerant argumentative tradition.

“It is important to recognise that we come from a loquacious and argumentative culture where we regard argument to be good thing to participate in,” Sen said, referring to the arguments between Krishna and Arjun in the Bhagwad Gita. In his book, he narrates how as a high-school student he had asked his Sanskrit teacher whether it was permissible to say that Krishna got away with an incomplete and unconvincing argument.

“My Sanskrit teacher told me that maybe you could say that, but you must say it with adequate respect,” Sen recalled.

A critic of religion in politics ? he condemns events like the Babri Masjid demolition and the mayhem in Gujarat ? Sen gives the examples of emperors Ashoka and Akbar, who epitomised tolerance and put reasoning over religion.

A self-confessed democrat, the economist stressed on the importance of political activism and linked Kerala’s achievements in education and healthcare to these factors.