Annual Statement of ACPI on Tradition and Innovation

Annual Statement of ACPI on Tradition and Innovation We, the members of the Association of Christian Philosophers of India (ACPI), gathered for the thirty-fifth Annual Meeting at Carmel Vidya Niketan, Faridabad, from 23rd to 27th October 2010, to reflect on the theme, “Tradition and Innovation: Philosophical Rootedness and Openness” hereby state: 1. Tradition and innovation are essential, inseparable, yet distinct dimensions of human life. 2. Tradition refers to the “handing over” or transmission of values, beliefs, doctrines, ideologies, rituals, symbols, customs, practices, and histories. Innovation refers to that dimension of human beings by means of which they actively and creatively exercise their existence in constant engagement with their tradition(s). 3. Tradition generates a sense of identity, stability, rootedness, belonging, morality, and justice inter alia. Innovation enables growth, creativity, dynamism, authenticity, and openness to situations and changing realities. 4. Tradition and innovation are involved in a fine dialectical tension where the overemphasis of one aspect can lead to the danger of fatalism, dogmatism, and stagnation (in the case of tradition) or fragmentation and superficial novelties (in the case of innovation). 5. Innovative developments cannot be separated from the givenness of tradition. It is by innovative decision-making that a person “stands-out” from the rest of the crowd and manifests his/her uniqueness. However, human freedom to innovate is not without its limits. Creativity, choice, and human freedom are rooted and determined to an extent by the tradition(s) in which a person finds himself/herself. 6. Indian Christians form one community with double roots, i.e., Indian and Christian. These twin foci are vital and extremely rich elements in the process of philosophizing and help to promote innovative thinking. 7. A genuine openness to innovation is possible only to the extent that one is deeply rooted in one’s own tradition. Likewise, innovation challenges and offers a critique to tradition – not so much to replace it, but to empower it to renew, renovate, and heal itself so that it can be relevant to contemporary aspirations.