The ground plan for the present volume is unique in Indological studies.  Twenty-three scholars from seven countries were invited to respond to issues elaborated in one or more of Wilhelm Halbfass' own critical essay on Edward Said’s Orientalism and related topics.  The following individual contributions are grouped under four headings: Cross-Cultural Encounter and Dialogue, Issues of Comparative Philosophy, Topics in Classical Indian Philosophy, and Indian Religion, Past and Present.  In four illuminating essays, Halbfass himself responds to each of these contributions, thus entering into direct dialogue with his respondents.