Divergent paths, Converging Visions: Indian and Greece Philosophical and Theological Dialogue

Organized By

About the Conference

India and Greece—two of the world’s oldest civilizational centres—have generated philosophical and theological systems that continue to shape human self-understanding, ethics, political imagination, and spiritual inquiry. Classical Greek foundations in metaphysics, logic, ethics, and political theory find rich parallels in Indian philosophical traditions such as Vedanta, Samkhya, Nyaya, and Buddhist thought.

This three-day international conference brings together scholars to examine the convergences and creative tensions between Greek and Indian philosophical-theological traditions. The programme comprises six thematic sessions across three days, with parallel tracks exploring Platonic metaphysics and the nature of the self, Aristotelian ethics and Indo-Greek cultural interactions, Greek theological language alongside textual and liturgical traditions, kingship and Gandhian political ethics, cross-cultural bioethics alongside ancient trade and intellectual networks, and the final day concluding with a dedicated session on psychology, consciousness, and ethical formation.

Papers presented at the conference will be peer-reviewed, and selected papers will be jointly published with the conference proceedings by the University of Athens, MG University, and DE’THRI Foundation.

Contact: Sujith Varghese George, Director, DE’THRI Foundation

Email: sujith.george@dethrifoundation.org | Mobile: +91 91373 61322

Program Schedule

The conference unfolds across three days with six thematic sessions. Sessions 1 to 5 run as parallel tracks (A and B), held simultaneously in the Convergence Hall and the Seminar Hall on the first floor of Gandhi Bhavan. Session 6 concludes the conference on 26 April.

Day 1: 24 April 2026

Time	Track A — Convergence Hall, Mahatma Gandhi University	Track B — Seminar Hall, Gandhi Bhavan, Mahatma Gandhi University
9:00	Registration & Morning Coffee — Convergence Hall
9:30 – 11:00	Inauguration — Convergence Hall Inaugural Keynote: Paulose Mar Gregorios on Philosophy of East and West — Fr. Dr. K. M. George
11:15 – 12:35	Session 1A · Platonic Metaphysics and Time Plato, Eternal Recurrence, and the Repetitive View of Time The Concrete Human Individual in Plato and Self as Transcendental Reality in Sankara	Session 1B · Self, Illusion and Dialectics Plato’s Imagery of the Cave and Māyā in Indian Philosophy Debate, Dialogue and Dialectics in Indian Philosophy
14:30 – 16:40	Session 2A · Aristotelian Ethics and Comparative Philosophy Aristotelian Thought and its Resonance in Indian Schools of Realism Buddhist Ethics as Predominantly Virtue Ethics Aristotle’s Ethics and Some Indian Philosophical Parallels	Session 2B · Indo-Greek Cultural and Intellectual Interactions The Greek Influence on Buddhist Cultures in India Religious Tradition – Politics – Leadership: Symbols in Greece and India Practical Wisdom: Phronesis and Yukta in 21st-Century Leadership

Day 2: 25 April 2026

Time	Track A — Convergence Hall, Mahatma Gandhi University	Track B — Seminar Hall, Gandhi Bhavan, Mahatma Gandhi University
9:30 – 11:25	Session 3A · Greek Language and Theology Greek Language and Eastern Christianity Man as Microcosm: The Christian Perception of a Philosophical Concept From Polis to Parish: The Impact of Hellenic Thought on Antiochene Theology	Session 3B · Texts, Traditions and Theological Expressions The Image of Jesus Christ in Persian Poetry From the Middle East to Malankara: The Syriac Peshitta of Mar Thoma VI The Symbolism of Arnion Esphagmenon and Subaltern Communities in India
11:40 – 13:35	Session 4A · Kingship, Political Symbolism and Cultural Interaction Formation of Kingship in South India — A Study Based on Sangam Literature Mauryan Imperial Symbolism and Greek Motifs in South Indian Art Indo-Greek Cultural Interactions through Texts, Epigraphy, and Archaeology	Session 4B · Political Theory and Gandhian Ethics Ahimsa and Democracy: The Metaethics of Power and Institutions in Gandhi Gandhi’s Critique of Western Civilization / Materialism Ramanuja’s Theistic Communitarianism in Indo-Hellenic Dialogue
14:45 – 16:55	Session 5A · Ethics and Bioethics in Cross-Cultural Perspective In Pursuit of Holiness: A Kantian Approach to Moral Enhancement Virtue and Its Relevance in Bioethics: An Intercultural Approach Truth, Conscience, and Moral Resistance: Socrates and Gandhi in a Technocratic Age	Session 5B · Trade, Networks and Intellectual Convergences Ships from Delos to India — Greco-Roman Wine Trade and Red Sea Volcanic Ballast Frankincense, Pepper, and Gold: The Ancient Greece–Yemen–India Triangle From Comparison to Convergence: Philology and Indo-Greek Connections in 18th-Century India

Day 3: 26 April 2026

Time	Track A — Seminar Hall, Gandhi Bhavan, Mahatma Gandhi University
14:30 – 16:55	Session 6 · Psychology, Consciousness and Ethical Formation Keynote: Psychology / Psychotherapy in Greek and Indian Philosophical Traditions Philosophical Roots of Psychotherapy in Indian Settings From Psyche to Bodhisattva: Gandharan Art and the Emergence of a Transcultural Consciousness The Digital Kurukshetra and the Path of Praxis: Logos, Dharma, and Synderesis Ubuntu as a Philosophical Bridge between Indian and Greek Philosophy
16:55 – 17:25	Future Directions in Indo-Greek Dialogue
17:25 – 17:50	Conclusion

Delegates

Prof. Dr. Abey Koshy	Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady
Prof. Dr. Ajay S. Sekhar	Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady
Prof. Dr. Akhlaque Ahmad	Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
Ms. Apurva Sinha	Srishti Manipal Institute, MAHE, Bengaluru
Rev. Bobby Mathew	Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam
Prof. Dr. C. D. Sebastian	Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
Prof. Dr. C. R. Harilakshmeendra Kumar	Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam
Prof. Dr. C. T. Aravindakumar	Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi University
Prof. Dr. Evangelos D. Protopapadakis	NKUA, University of Athens, Greece
Mr. Fadi Nasr	Beirut Community Center, Lebanon
Fr. George Chinnappan	Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Christ University, Bangalore
Dr. George John	Retired Consultant Psychiatrist, Kochi
Mr. George Thomas	Pontifical Oriental Institute of Religious Studies, Kottayam
Prof. Dr. Georgios D. Panagopoulos	University Ecclesiastical Academy of Athens, Greece
Prof. Dr. Ioannis Kalogerakos	University of Athens, Greece
Dr. Jyoti Sahi	Art Ashram, Silvepura, Bangalore
Fr. Dr. K. M. George	Paulose Mar Gregorios Chair, Mahatma Gandhi University
Prof. Dr. K. P. Shajan	Kerala Council for Historical Research, Pattanam
Prof. Dr. Kuruvilla Pandikattu SJ	XLRI, Jamshedpur
Prof. Dr. M. H. Illyas	Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam
Mr. Manas Jyoti Talukdar	Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam
Ms. Maria Zanou	NKUA, University of Athens, Greece
Prof. Dr. Miltiadis Vantsos	Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Prof. Dr. Nikolaos A. Denaxas	NKUA, University of Athens, Greece
Prof. Dr. Noushad P P	School of Gandhian Thought and Development Studies, MG University
Ms. Oseagah Mary Osemudiamen	Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam
Prof. Dr. P. A. Mathew	Grace International Academy / Palakunnathu Foundation
Prof. Dr. Panneerselvam S	Indian Philosophical Congress
Prof. Dr. Pius V. Thomas	Assam University, Silchar
Prof. Dr. R. Lekshmi	University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram
Fr. Dr. Renish Geevarghese A	St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi
Ms. Samar Azazi	Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam
Prof. Dr. Sivadas K K	Kerala University, Trivandrum
Prof. Dr. Sreekala M. Nair	Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady
Mr. V. Selvakumar	Tamil University, Thanjavur
Prof. Dr. Varghese Punnoose	Government Medical College, Kottayam
Prof. Dr. Vinay Kumar	Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Rev. Dr. Wilson Paluri	Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, Chennai