Philosophical Papers Journal of Department of Philosophy, Vol. 21

EDITORIAL NOTE

Season’s Greeting!

Being the Head of the Department of Philosophy and also the Chief Editor of the Departmental journal “Philosophical Papers,” I am pleased to convey that this Departmental journal, as a UGC-CARE-ENLISTED journal, carries the legacy of the last many years for its unvarying publication within the stipulated period. All papers publish in this volume (XXI) are evaluated by reviewers, and based on their valuable evaluations, reports such papers are included in this volume. The editorial team is committed to upholding the standard of the journal to retain its past inheritance. Without the support of the editorial team and reviewers, it would not be possible for us to publish this journal within the stipulated period. So, on behalf of the Department, I must take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to all the revivers, the contributors and the esteemed faculty members for their wholehearted cooperation.

Besides, we express our sincere gratitude to the Registrar, Finance Officer, Dean of the faculty of Arts, Commerce and Law of North Bengal University, for their unequivocal cooperation that we got in spite of the absence of the Honourable Vice- Chancellor. However, due to financial constraints, we could not publish sufficient physical copies. Hope the contributors will access their respective copies from the online publication.

The present volume contains as many as twenty-three articles chosen out of more than one hundred articles based on tangible reports of the reviewers. The articles are of a diverse nature, covering almost all philosophical areas. Considering the significance of the New Education Policy (NEP), special attention was given to those areas related to NEP. Besides, some papers related to the Indian Knowledge System (IKS) are appropriate for this volume. I do hope that the legacy and inviolability of this journal will be carried forward by the Department of Philosophy in the days to come.

The journal begins with a paper belonging to the Indian Knowledge System. When materialism stretches its heydays, erosion of moral and ethical values is preordained, and it invites serious quandaries in life. As a result, even if the world develops by leaps and bounds with the blessing of scientific and technological advancement, it happens at the cost of erosion of moral and ethical values. Accordingly, peace in life is hard to come by. In his paper “The Principal Teaching of the Sriadbhagavadgita”, Nirmal Kumar Roy engrosses to show in what sense the principal teaching of the Gita is relevant to solving the problem that we as ordinary humans face in our daily life by making a bridge between our practical and spiritual life. Here the author inclines to say that individual dishonesty is the root cause of all problems that we experience in our life and society. Whether the society would be an ideal or not would depend on how every individual of the society acts in day in and day out. Thus, the well-being of the society is primarily hinges on individual honesty of each and every man of the society. Here the author finds the relevance of moral and religious teaching as prescribed by the Sastras. The author in this context cites Swami Vivekananda who once remarked that an individual liberation or moksha in turn leads to the well-being of the society. Our Sastras, according to the author, can do the same through various margas or yogas, namely, karma yoga, jnana yoga and bhakti yoga. The same is reflected in Bhagavad-Gita. The author further contends that so far Hindu religion is concerned each and every yoga is good enough to lead to the state of moksha. Different margas are just like different rivers which run through different areas and eventually merge to one and the same ocean. The author subscribes that in a sense the whole Gita can be equated with a three-wheeler vehicle each of which is complimentary and equally important to overcome the problem of individual in their practical life. Bhagavad-Gita, the author opines, begins with karma yoga alternatively known as niskama karma, a sort of desireless action that treats sorrow and pleasures equally. In this sense, a karma yogi is known as sthitaprajna. Why it is said so? The author then subscribes that to have a partial answer of it, one has to invite jnana yoga and to have a fully satisfactory answer of the aforesaid question, one has to reach to the realm of bhakti-yoga. This is how karma-yoga is interconnected with jnana yoga and bhakti yoga. The author with special reference to Bhagavad-Gita extensively elaborates how the principle teaching of Bhagavad-Gita is relevant to overcome the problem that we as humans are facing in our daily life.

The paper entitled “Is Dharmasastra Prevailing Over Arthasastra?” by Laxmikanta Padhi is deeply rooted in Indian Knowledge system where the author attempts to explore and epitomise the conflict as well as similarities between Arthasastra and Dharmasastra with reference to Mahabharata and Yajnavalkya-Smriti. In this paper the author cognizes Dharma as a moral principle - the practice of which helps one to realize his far-reaching potential. Arthasastra, on the contrary, highlights the acquisition and preservation of wealth to ensure the stability for both society and state. Thus in a sense, Dharma has internal worth and Artha has external connotation. The author then argues that Dharmasastra is more authoritative than Arthasastra and it entirely diminishes the perception of Arthasastra. While epitomizing all such complex and convoluted issues, the author quotes and refers various Vedic literatures, such as the Arthasastra of Kautilya, Yajnavalkya –Smriti, Manu-Smriti, Upanishad and ends the paper with an imprint that the Arthasastra of Kautilya may implicitly be understood as a form of Dharmasastra. This reflects that the author gives the upper hand to Dharma over Artha without fortifying the relevance of the latter.

The paper entitled Philosophical Counseling for Nurturing “Philosophical Quotient (PhilQ)”by Navneet Chopra primarily concentrates on how a higher state of Wisdom of an ordinary ‘sane’ person can be envisioned through philosophical refinement. Here the author deals with a specific problem-solving of routine life where existential insights about nature of life, self, mind, and above all the problem of other minds find relevant. While enquiring and stimulating such key philosophical issues, the author cripplingly counts on the inner strength specifically with reference to the metaphysical framework of Heideggrian Phenomenology as the paradigm of philosophical practice. The author then introduces a new concept “Philosophical Quent” and then attempts to connect it with the notions of “authenticity coin” as well as “Philosophical depth”. In this regard, the author seems to take the concept of Heideggarian Dasein that carries existential structure of human existence as “Default Existential Structure” for gaining human authenticity and philosophical depth. The paper at the end counsels and deals with some specific and concrete possible methods to achieve the goal about how to gain or develop certain higher philosophical quotient for an individual in particular and the society at large..

The paper entitled “Transformation of Consciousness and Cognition Only: Vasubandhu’s Perspective” by Shakuntala Bora voices with special reference to Vasubandhu that all worlds are actually nothing but mind, and that objects external to mind lack existence, and hence mere nothing. Our understanding of the objects is nothing but mere vagaries in consciousness that materializes only through cognition alone. Again our understanding of objects eventually comes upon knowing of selflessness of events (dharna nairatmya). Everything is citta only, i.e., the cognition of the knowing mind. The author, after Vasubandshu, subscribes the problem of other minds saying that it is like knowing one’s own mind where the mind-known cannot be treated as an object. The author also reveals Vasubandhu very similar to Buddhas that comes about through the ineffable self. Following both the thinkers, the author eventually subscribes that inherent non-knowing is not like an object because unlike an object it appears differently.

The paper entitled “Understanding Cognition and Accounting for Error in Prabhakara Mimansa Philosophy”, by Swagata Ghosh explores and exemplifies the notions of validity and invalidity of cognitions as well as the means of determining the same through various putative and legitimated philosophical systems. However, in her paper, the author primarily ponders on Prabhakara Mimansa philosophy to develop the same. The Prabakara Mimansa, the author cogently argues, takes knowledge to be self-expressive and self-evident where knowledge is manifested as intrinsically valid. However, the author argues that such an epistemological claim needs further philosophical scrutiny. Again the author quips that if knowledge is found intrinsically valid after Prabhakara Mimansa, then in what sense an error becomes a reality in daily life. As a critical approach the author in her paper deals with the theory of verbal cognition after Prabhakara, and then delves into the theory of error of the same. She then finally draws the conclusion that Prabhakara’s error theory seems to be consistent and very much in consonance with the intrinsic validity of the Vedas. Having said this, the author reveals inadequacy in the Mimamsa’s position, particularly about the doctrine of Svatah Pramanya, because it does not provide any room for empirical verifiability of knowledge. This does not however make sense, the author contends, that the Prabhakara epistemologically loses its foothold. It is still relevant as it pertains to its principle of self-evidence of cognition both in Vedic as well as empirical context. This is how the author reconnoitres the consistency of a philosophical system..

The paper entitled “Possessiveness–An Impediment to Usual Life” by Brajagopal Roy undertakes possessiveness as a human vice as it is harmful to human life. Here the author argues that possessiveness as a human vice thwarts us from knowing our self/spirit or reality, and consequently, it impedes everyday life. Only the knowledge of self, i.e., Atmanjnana can help us to dispel ignorance as an unnecessary confinement to the mundane world. Once we come to know what “I am” and “I self” then we can eliminate possessiveness automatically and thus can gain our innate immortal nature. As a human vice, possessiveness is deeply entangled with ego or I-feeling that belongs to ignorance. The author, however, in his paper attempts to remove possessiveness by drawing the distinction between eternal and non-eternal and also by the assertion that the knowledge of consciousness, i.e., Jivatma, in short, is not different from Parramatta. As a workable solution, the author prescribes three ashrams which help a man to detach from the worldly objects. The karma yoga of Gita and Upanishad are equally accommodating to overcome possessiveness.

It is often argued that there is no ethics in politics. However, the ethics of politics is a much challenging issue in modern times. In her paper “Idealistic Politics: Cross Questioning the Contemporary Account”, Nabanita Bhowal takes an account how to map out an alternative way of doing politics and political activities. The author argues that it is a general perception that politicians could not live up with the expectancy of the people due to moral degradation and degeneration in their political activities. Therefore, to make an amalgamation between ethics and politics and also to get a respect from the people is a prerequisite. The author seems to take politicking not a mere fiction in the imagination rather a reality and to substantiate it the author divulges various ethical paths to address this issue. However, the author ends her paper rather inconclusive fashion by saying that though there are many ethical lines of thinking but what sort of morality can really breach political activity needs further study.

Though perception is the superior pramana in Nyaya philosophy, but whether the same is determinate or indeterminate, and the conditions for shaping a perception as determinate or indeterminate has been a debated issue. Riki Chakraborty in her paper “Some Epistemological Problems of Indeterminate Perception” raises some fundamental epistemological problems of indeterminate perception. The author initiates her discussion with the definition of perception given by Maharshi Gautama in the Nyaya Sutra, and then takes a critical account of the defect of undercoverage of the same with reference to some Navya Naiyayikas, namely, Gangesa, Visvanatha, and Uddotakara.

Humanism is an impending virtue talent in every human. It entered into sociopolitical discourse during 16th century Renaissance. Since then it has been remained a dominant issue of discussion to the philosophers, ontologists, social-thinkers, and reformers. Alokananda Parida and Sangita Sahu in their joint paper “Perspectives on Humanism: Swami Vivekananda and Deendayal Upadhyaya (Comparative Study)” deal with the philosophical and ethical perspectives of Humanism that appeared as a revolt against religious authoritarianism and dogmas leaving no room for anything transcendental or mystical. In this context, the authors instigate with the views of two great contemporary humanists, namely, Swami Vivekananda and Deendayal Upadhyaya and then make a comparative study between them. The authors argue that based on Vedantic conviction Swami Vivekananda considered man as the highest manifestation on divinity on Earth, prescribed education as the potent means, and articulated the idea of universal religion as a message of humanism. Deendayal Upadhyaya, on the other hand, being a philosopher, sociologist, economist and politician emphasized more on a socio-economic model for human centric development based on a sustainable consumption of natural resources. The authors end their paper with a view that the spiritual humanism of Swami Vivekananda draws the foundation of Vedanta vision of oneness whereas Deendayal was more inclined to bring socio-economic and socio-political changes that would enable individuals to embrace integral living and holistic growth. Their paths are different but the end remains the same.

Relativism in general and moral relativism in particular appears as a revolt in philosophy against absolutism. In the post-modern era, relativism apparently seems more acceptable than absolutism. It equally influences ethics and morality. In the recent past whether moral decision would be absolute or relative has been a philosophical twist, and the tussle continues. Nibita Rajak in her paper “Harman’s Moral Relativism: A Critical Reflection” takes a critical account of Harman’s view of moral relativism. Unlike moral absolutism, Harman inclines to say that moral judgments about what is right or wrong, good or bad, just or unjust, virtue or vice depend on the specific moral perspectives or set of principles. This position of Harman visibly creates a threat to moral absolutism the hallmark of which is moral objectivity. It seems that Harman’s view of moral relativism fails to retain moral objectivity and would survive within moral subjectivity. It also requires moral tolerance which again begs questions. The author, however, does not suggest that moral absolutism is wrong; rather she intends to say that moral relativism in general makes moral absolutism less possible or less convincing. The author endorses with critical stance that the diversity of moral opinions as expounded by Harman immediately faces serious challenges and it will require further philosophical scrutiny.

Humans’ life is guided by two parallel paradigms of which one is based on reason and the other is based on faith. Faith based knowledge cannot be adequately cognized by reason. There is hardly a meeting point between faith and reason. Religion is based on faith of God, Deity, supernatural. All traditional and conventional religions are in some sense or other carried the same message. In his paper “Wittgenstein’s Counter-explanatory take on Religion” Purbayan Jha explores a different interpretation of religion in the light of Wittgenstein. Wittgenstein was not doing philosophy of religion; rather he was doing religion in his own way unlike the traditional and conventional religion where faith on God as a religious agent finds the supremacy of religion. Wittgenstein metaphorically claimed that he was not a religious man in the conventional sense but perhaps would a religious man where religion finds a way of living, where religion per se has no beginning or ending. A religious person would be a tightrope of honest religious thinker where his understanding of religion would be a matter of candid religious confession. The author subscribes that instead of any kind of metaphysical thematization Wittgenstein takes an anthropological approach to religion and its practice within language games and forms of life. Wittgenstein adopts a naturalistic position that goes against Frazer’s intellectualism. For Wittgenstein, the feeling of God is non-cognitive feeling that one can get through the practice of religious language. When we talk of God, we are not concerned about to whom we mean rather what we mean. God is nowhere and if there is any God, it is deeply embedded in the grammar of language. That is why Wittgenstein conceives religion as theology of grammar. The author ends the paper with a verdict that his understanding of Wittgenstein’s religion is more a matter of charity rather than a matter of clarity that would create an openness of our understanding of religion.

Utilitarian being a moral theory states that the best action is the one that brings the most benefit to the most people or that produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people. In a sense it is a result oriented ethics often used in business and politics. It is alternatively known as consequentialism. Rekha Ojha in her insightful paper “The Metaphysics of Utilitarianism: A Humanistic Approach” envisages certain met-ethical assumptions, particularly a naturalistic or humanistic view of morality. Utilitarian being a normative and meta-ethical theory prescribes how we ought to act, rather than describing how things are. Of course, utilitarianism itself does not delve into metaphysical questions about the nature of reality, it does certainly rely on certain meta-ethical assumptions, namely, naturalism as well as objectivism. Utilitarian thinkers like Bentham and Mill often grounded moral goodness in natural phenomena, and thereby suggesting that morality is rooted in human experience. Again utilitarianism often assumes an objective account of moral worth meaning that moral truths exist independently of individual opinion or cultural norms. As far as the meta-ethical aspect of utilitarianism is concerned, it explores the nature of moral knowledge, the meaning of moral terms and also the foundation of morality. The author argues that emotion is not divided into fragments where opposing forces are battling over one another. Pain and pleasure do not exist in space, and we are no longer in a position to claim that one is above the other, rather emotions are conjures up according to so many different parameters. Whatever our emotional experience may by, whether we are selfish or not, at the end we can achieve a state of minimal equilibrium with the help of language based analysis of man, or theological or dogmatic explanation, or even through spiritual revelations. Still we may be fall short to achieve our goal. As far as ambiguous reality is concerned, again utilitarianism must be viewed as an incomplete philosophical moral theory. The author however subscribes that the only certainty that one can lure from utilitarianism is that we can be certain that by choosing it we are negating something else. Having said this utilitarianism being a moral theory still can create an unwavering, passive and moderately happy society. But beyond that it can do a very little thing as the idea of happiness will be judged as the relation to everything but not as some idealistic separate entity.

In her paper “Sartre on Three Waves of Ethics: A Philosophical Reflection”, Tulika Sutradhar attempts to highlight the insight of Sartre’s existential ethics. Here the author argues that Sartre’s ethical concepts though full of ambiguity and vague but are highly thought provoking. Sartre’s moral ideology seems problematic due to lack of any fixed moral ideology. Indeed Sartre develops three waves of ethics without postulating any rigid moral maxim. The author argues that Sartre talks of existential ethics where human existence is full of ambiguity and for which the same cannot be fixed. Sartre in his main ontological work Being and Nothingness develops the concept of existential ethics. In his First wave of Ethics, Sartre was primarily concerned with the individual concept of authenticity and inauthenticity, and it plays an extensive role in his entire ethical system. Here Sartre acknowledges freedom as a primary value. As the first wave of ethics is individualistic and abstract, it does not deal with any concrete ethical practice relevant to socio-ethical dilemma. Thus, in a sense Sartre’s first wave of ethics fails to overcome the socio-ethical dilemma which he seems to be essential in ethics. This actually has prompted Sartre to delve into the Second wave of Ethics the main contention of which is to build up the concepts of solidarity, fraternity, submission of individual freedom, and also to ensure equal respect for the freedom of the members. But wherein stays the relevance of his Third wave of Ethics? Here the author claims that the insight of the Third wave of Ethics is latently and ambiguously implanted in the First and the Second wave of Ethics. Its main objective is to have a richer understanding of an integrally humanized society which portraits Sartre’s existential ethics as the ethics of obligation or as an inner constraint. While conceptualizing Sartre’s Three Waves of Ethics, the author at the ends concludes by saying that the main contention of Sartre’s existential ethics is to develop integral humanity.

The concept of thought plays strategic role in any form of philosophizing from time immemorial. Many philosophers think that thought is an idea profoundly associated with mind and body. But when we deal with thought in logic in general and semantics in particular, we find a different interpretation altogether. In her paper “Defense of Frege’s ‘Third Realm’” Reshmee Sarkar expounds and examines in what sense Frege argues thought as the ‘Third Real’. Thought, according to Frege, is a third realm because it is neither physical nor mental but something else. As his perception of thought is deeply entangled with Begriffschrift, i.e., the concept notation where language comprehends elementary logic and mathematics, he vehemently claims that thought markedly differs from idea. The point is of course is that, if thought is independent of mind and body and also differs from idea, then how does thought enter into language? Frege says that through a sentence question, thought is associated with descriptive language. Thought is required for determining the sense of the sentence. Frege subscribes that thought is the sense of the sentence but the sense of the sentence may or may not be thought. Being an anti-psychologist, Frege while developing his semantics is predominantly concerned with descriptive language where he makes the distinction between thoughts and grasping of thoughts. Thoughts for Frege exist by themselves and hence objective. Of course, Frege conceives different levels of thoughts, namely, thinking, recognition, and judgment and then argues that at the level of judgment one can identify the truth of a sentence and just by knowing the truth of the sentence one can interpret the same as a meaningful one. The author evaluates Dummett’s epistemological position of Frege’s thought, Burge cognitive access to Frege’s Third Realm, and Rousse’s anti-Platonistic position of Frege’s thought based on cognitive intuition. The author in her paper examines with critical outlook whether Frege’ Third Realm, i.e., thought is a myth. While weighing the contemporary debate with special reference Dummett, Searle, Burge, Rousse and Malzkom, the author at the ends seems to conclude that as Frege’s Third Realm deals with abstract objects, the process of reaching out to the Third Realm is indeed a mysterious one.

Even though prostitution seems to be a social profanity but it was latently present in different forms from time immemorial. Over the course of history, it has been legalized in some states and in recent past it emerges as an open secret business seemingly visible in the heart of many cities. Prostitution has been a social institution throughout human history and very often motivated by financial factors. Moreover, it became linked to religion as well. Within this transformational change, still prostitution has not been accepted in a respectable sense and the society and community perceives a prostitute in a disdain manner. Saddam Hossain in his paper “Islam on Prostitution: An Analysis and some Observations” argues that as per Islamic Sharia law is concerned, prostitution has been regarded as the most odious professions countries like Saudi Arabia, Taliban ruled Afghanistan. Severe punishments have been prescribed for much unlawful sexual intercourse. Of course, the punishment slightly varied between unmarried and married man. According to the Islamic Sharia law, one can fulfil sexual desires within marriage. The author further contends that as per as Islamic Sharia law is concerned, penalties are prescribed to deter people from engaging sexual activities. The author at the end of his paper argues that careful study would reflect that prostitution and civilization have coexisted and one cannot rule out the religious beliefs and social customs that have varied over time. Through religion and religious beliefs, prostitution is deeply rooted in the fabric of the society in India. Therefore, it is pertinent to resolve the dignity of women by forbidding sexual violence and forced prostitution.

Human dignity and autonomy of the will determines human personality. They are the fundamental essence of humans for which philosophers, great humanists, social reformers are interested to write and to develop theories. Indeed, freedom and autonomy of the will is also supposed to be the fundamental essence of every moral agent. Moral judgment of an action of a moral agent seems relevant only if the concerned moral agent enjoys freedom and autonomy of the will. It has gained much importance when we deal with Kantian morality in particular. In her paper “Kant’s Conception of Human Dignity: Unravelling the Moral Fabric of Humanity”, Riya Ghosh precisely attempts to demonstrate the significance of the Kantian perspective of humanity towards restoring the essence of human dignity for the sake of humanity in a holistic manner. In this regard, the author engrosses with the Kantian formulations of Categorical Imperative in promoting human dignity. Besides, the author also takes up the inquiry whether there underlies any breach between Kantian perception of human dignity and the human perception of the same. She also outlines what humans should do to promote and sustain human dignity under Kantian moral framework. The author all over her paper deals with the concept of morality in the light of the Kantian moral systems and also substantiates the same through the principle of universal law, humanity and autonomy and has ended her paper with a cryptic remark that humans have inherent dignity by virtue of being possessed rational faculty. However, the present society is struggling to restore human dignity due to some socially conditioned and external factors. To overcome such an obstacle, one should look back to Kantian moral system for understanding and sustaining human dignity. This will, the author claims, help us to create a good society as well as a good future generation.

It would not be an exaggeration that any sort of disobedience is morally obnoxious. The term ‘disobedience’ is morally questionable. It is equally true in law as well. Disobedience of law is punishable. Monalisha Biswasin her paper “Civil Disobedience and Its Justification in Respect to Moral Aspects” weighs civil disobedience from the perspective of political philosophy. Here the author seems to argue that civil disobedience essentially concerns the limits of a citizen’s obedience owed to the state. Here the moral questions of political obligation find relevant. The author quips by asking of what magnitude the citizen has an obligation to obey the laws of the state. She in this regard covenants with two positions of which one states that one has an absolute obligation to obey the laws of the state and the other holds that one has a prima facie obligation to obey the law of the state. Thus these two positions find conflicting in nature. The former takes an absolute account whereas the later takes a relative account. The author in her paper takes a critical account of both the positions. Besides she deals with political obligation in the light of Socrates, addresses the social contract theory, and also takes an account of the conflict between legal and moral obligations. Further the author also deals with the nature and content of civil disobedience and also justifies civil disobedience from moral perspective. She further enquires whether a citizen under an obligation should obey the unjust laws of the state. The author ends her paper with the position that in a democratic set up civil disobedience should be measured from moral perspective so that we can uphold and restore justice. For restoring human dignity, restoring justice is vital for us and it can be achievable only if we reform the law of the state in the light of ethical principles..

The demand for justice is a holistic slogan and it can practice by everyone. Everyone seeks justice. Even though justice means what is just, but measuring justice is hard to come by. The concept of justice is primarily a socio-political concept where justice is interpreted with the trio-concepts, namely, liberty, equality and fraternity. But in modern times, people are talking about environmental justice as well. Environmental justice primarily surveys how environmental benefits and burdens are socially distributed. Pankoj Kanti Sarkarin his paper “Environmental Justice: An Outlook” is largely concerned with how an integrated way of life within the environment is possible. In this regard, the author takes environmental justice as a contentious and multifaceted issue within the sphere of environmental philosophy. He seeks to examine how environmental justice applies to nature and natural communities, and also appraises how restoration of environmental justice will be beneficial to future generation. It is a proven fact that environment is being degraded in every passing day and if this will continue then our future generation will be the most sufferers of it. Therefore, restoration of environmental degradation is a prerequisite. The author argues that while dealing with environmental justice, we seek to address not only ecological concerns but also social, political, and economic realities that would shape environmental harm and benefit distribution. Environmental justice can broaden the scope of environmentalism to incorporate everyday issues affecting human life. Environmental justice is needed for fair treatment and significant involvement of all people in environmental decision making. Thus in a sense, the author ponders that environmental justice is needed as it demands a transformative perspective that integrates environmental protection with social justice and well-being of all biotic communities. Environment justice can address and handle environmental challenges. In this paper the author reflects on the views of Aristotle, Descartes, Kant, Regan, Taylor, and Singer and tries to relate their positions with environmental justice. The author ends his paper with the remark that environmental justice is needed for restoring environmental degradation.

Like the seekers of justice, human beings are equally seekers of peace. Of course there are different paradigms through which one can seek peace. Apabrita Bhattacharya in her paper “The Bhakti Cult’s Vision of Religious Reformation: A Secular Strategy for The Modern World” aims to explore the origin and significance of the Bhakti Cult in the light of medieval India. Bhakti movement, the author claims, is fundamentally spiritual and secular that encourages religious cooperation and fights against prejudice and social injustice. However, Bhakti movement is relevant as it can foster social cohesion. The ultimate end of Bhakti movement is to attain salvation – a spiritual stage where one can achieve the faith of an ultimate truth. So long we cannot achieve the faith of an ultimate truth; we very often fall into social conflicts that would destroy social harmony and integrity. The author further argues that one can take Bhakti cult as the pathway of experiencing the essence of divinity through unconditional amenity. Love and devotion is the hallmark of Bhakti cult that spreads and converts the so-called social conflicts into social harmony. India, being a secular country, essentially needs Bhakti cult for gaining unity in diversity. Further the author ponders that as a secular movement, Bhakti movement spreads all over in India within a very short span of time. The author in her paper deals with the contribution of Bhakti cult to reconciling religions in South India. Further the author discusses spiritual resistance against social hierarchy by North India Bhakti saints. Again the author deals with Kabir’s fight against social discrimination as a reform prophet. She also takes on Guru Nanak’s humanistic vision towards world peace and after that discusses about Sri Chaitanya’s vision of social unity. The author at the end remarks that religious unity that has been emphasized by a few Bhakti saints offers a secular ting that would be helpful for striving social welfare.

Yoga remained as the heart of Indian spirituality, value and culture since Patanjali’s yoga system. Though Patanjali was the founder of yoga system, but Pantanjali’s yoga was not integral. Bikram Aich in his paper “Aurobindo on Integral Yoga, Divinity and Truth and Its Relevance in Life” attempts to reflect on how Sri Aurobindo’s concept of Integral yoga, divinity and truth are correlated concepts which co-operatively determine universal individuality the objective of which is to excavate the true meaning of life. The Life Divine of Aurobindo itself manifests the divinity in life and it equally states that divinity pervades everywhere be in the mundane life or in the spiritual life. Following Aurobindo, the author states that all spiritual life is a growth into divine life, and the inner life unlike the outer one, has a supreme importance. Thus, a man dwells in the Divine life can realize spiritual existence. The author with special reference to The Synthesis of Yoga, and The Life Divine of Aurobindo inclines to say how one can attain spiritual enlightenment. He also says that the real purpose of human life is to manifest the divinity within physical realism that can be possible by means of integral yoga. Aurobindo, the author ponders, sees divinity in every challenge, and in every movement of joy and the key to integrating the Divine life is the transformation of our consciousness, i.e., a shift from mental to super-mental state of being. Aurobindo calls it jivan- mukta. Thus, for Aurobindo, divinity is the only truth that one can realise its uniqueness only through integral yoga. Further the integral yoga of Aurobindo is directed to God, and for this it is at times called purna–yoga. The author in his paper attempts to show in what sense Aurobindo’s integral yoga seeks to align every aspect of human life with the Divine. The author ends his paper with the remark that the purpose of life is to become conscious of Divine presence within that allows one to manifest one’s entire being, transforming both the individual and the world at large.

Like ethics, culture and values, aesthetics equally plays a significant role in shaping and flowering our life in a right bearing. The aesthetic sense of human experience grows and functions mostly in silence. Moumita Banerjee and Tripti Dhar in their jointly written paper “Wittgenstein on Aesthetics: The Silent Language of Beauty” examine Wittgenstein’s contribution to the philosophy of aesthetics both in the light of TLP and PI. The author then argues that Wittgenstein in his TLP takes aesthetics at par with ethics. Wittgenstein asserts that ethics, religion and aesthetics remain the same because they stay beyond the limits of propositional language what Wittgenstein termed as “my language”. Wittgenstein’s understanding of propositional language carries distinctive property as he categorically asserts that every proposition has two senses, either the proposition is true or the proposition is false. What is true or false is meaningful. Ethics, aesthetics and religion stay on the other side of the world and also beyond the limits of propositional language, they lack propositional sense and hence meaningless. Thus, aesthetic in TLP for Wittgenstein is meaningless, ineffable, mystical and non-sense. As aesthetic is nonsense in TLP, one has to pass over in silence of the same. The author, however, subscribe that Wittgenstein in his PI, takes aesthetics experience under the realm of ordinary language and considers aesthetic experience as a form of language games. Here aesthetics is not ineffable; rather one can speak about art, beauty, and taste and in turn can engage with aesthetics experience in everyday life. Being a linguistic philosopher, Wittgenstein attempts to show how language captures aesthetic experiences, that the meaning of aesthetics experience derives from the use in specific language-game, and how aesthetic judgments are shaped by cultural practices and the shared understanding of communities. Thus in a sense the author ponders that Wittgenstein’s aesthetics experience invokes an implicit agreement on what constitutes beauty and artistic merit. The author with reference to Wittgenstein’s Lectures on Ethics takes a conscientious account of Wittgenstein’s view on aesthetics. At the end of their paper they, however, concludes by saying that Wittgenstein’s aesthetic approach of PI is far more pertinent and engaged for a better incorporation to the dynamics of human life, culture and value, and it will be more appropriate and accessible for philosophical exploration.

In present scenario the role of media is colossal. Media of different forms incalculably help to form or to build public opinions which in turn help the society, community, and the country at large. It equally helps the political parties, the ruling government to revisit their political activities, strategies, idealogies. Reeta Kumari Sharma & Biswajit Barman in his paper “The Role of Media Ethics: A Philosophical Quest” cognizes media as a representative of present generation. Of course, the appearance of media is not something new, it was present long back. However, what is new is the development of media. With the advancement of science and technology, media of different forms is growing rapidly. However, within the advancement and rapid development of the same, the author worries about the violation of ethical code and conduct of various forms of media. Here the author finds the relevance of ethics in media. Media being a professional and business organization deals with public. As a result, media must be accorded by ethical rules and principles. Besides it has to play a massive role to restore harmony and integrity of the society as a responsible propositional institution. However, due to irrational interference of the political parties including the ruling government, at times media as a professional business organisation struggles for its own endurance. As a result, media at times is compelled to act unethically, and it is indeed the dark side on the part of the media. The author therefore argues that media as a profession institution must be abided by the moral code of conduct and also ensures truth, fairness and objectivity in their printing or news or broadcasting. To ensure this, the author observes, a media must enjoy freedom of speech, autonomy and responsibility. A media is equally accountable to the public as well. However, if media is succumbed to the political influence and interference, then social integrity and harmony would remain a far cry. The author concludes by saying that the influence of media immense. We cannot rule out the accountability and responsibility of media to the public. Apart from that the author is also concerned about the taste and decency of media. Finally, the author claims that media should not act as the beholders of the society as well as the communities.

Sustainability of any sort, such as ecological, tribal community etc. gets utmost priority. Many tribal communities lost their own identity in some reason and other. Binay Kumar Pandey in his paper “The Sustainability of Tribal Women in Jharkhand: A Philosophical and Cultural Investigation” explores the contribution of Santali women to sustainable development while focusing on philosophical orientation of their cultural and traditional insight. The author argues that Santali women as the largest indigenous groups in India always carry vibrant cultural legacy which inculcate socio-economic execution and a propound connection to nature. He further asserts that Santali women equally play dominant role in maintaining and guaranteeing the sustained growth of the community. He further argues that tradition ecological knowledge known as “indigenous knowledge” has been accumulated by native communities over many years interacting with their environment. Indigenous knowledge of Santali community manifests in various sustainable practices, particularly in the area of traditional agriculture, water conservation and health care. The author ends his paper with the perception that indigenous knowledge based on indigenous culture, religion, and attitudes towards nature are the keys through which Santali women can approach to the sustainable development. The author in his study underscores the crucial role of Santali women in fostering long-term prosperity by their deep-rooted cultural practices, traditional knowledge, and philosophical perspectives.

The fact-value dichotomy alternatively be termed as “Is-Ought” dichotomy finds a debatable issue in philosophy. This dichotomy is a long standing philosophical dichotomy primarily concerned with the truth value of statement. It is said that only descriptive statements (Is statements) have truth value and moral statements (ought statements) do not have truth value. Thus there forms a gulf between factual statements and evaluative statements. However, contemporary philosophers in the recent past have deeply been involved to minimize the gulf between factual statements and evaluative statements. Bijay Kumar Sarkar in his paper “How Putnam Collapses the Fact Value Dichotomy” attempts to minimize the gulf between Is and Ought statements in the light of Putnam. The author after Putnam argues that there is no point in saying that ethical values exists independently from empirical values, instead ethical judgments like descriptive judgments possess genuine truth-value. In this regards Putnam challenges, the reductionist’s view held by traditional empiricists like Hume. The author further explores in what sense Putnam seeks to eliminate how our understanding of the world is deeply entwined with values. Therefore, transforming ethical discussions into rational inquiries will enrich both philosophical and scientific discourses. According to Putnam, every fact, i.e. “Is statements” is value loaded and one cannot get the sense of the world without acknowledging the inherent values involved. The author in the light of the empiricists and logical positivists makes the distinction between Is and Ought and then takes Putnam’s response to minimizing the gulf. For Putnam, values are not separated from the facts and fact-value dichotomy is the byproduct of over simplification. As values are inextricably linked to facts, Putnam advocates for a more integrated approach to recognize the enterprise between empirical evidence and ethical considerations. One can entangle values in facts, values are entangled with fact and even values identify facts what Putnam explored in his internal realism. The question of justifying values as subjective or objective is redundant because values arise from our interaction with the world. Thus there is no point is saying that ethical discourse differs from scientific rationality. For Putnam, logical positivist, empiricists like Hume, Carnap and many others are responsible for that. The author ends this paper with the position that any assertion based on the decree that ethical judgments do not pertain to facts is nothing but an erroneous assumption.

The concept of freedom and existence plays the central role in existential philosophy in general and Sartre’s philosophy in particular. Existentialists argue that existence precedes essence where individual existence and freedom gets priority over essence. Subhankar Poddar in his paper “Freedom as the Core of Art: A Sartrean Account” attempts to explore in what sense his concept of freedom plays a crucial role in artistic creation. Freedom for Sartre is not simply a philosophical idea but a partial condition of existence that allows humans to define themselves. The author ends the paper with the remark that freedom being an integral part of a conscious being is core to human perspective and human creation. Every aspect related to human being is possible because of freedom and in this sense freedom is the foundation of art creation. The art creation of human being seems otiose if the being is not free.

Further suggestions and opinions for the improvement of this journal in the coming year is solicited.

With warm regards

Professor (Dr.) Kanti Lal Das
Head and Editor-in-Chief,
Department of Philosophy,
University of North Bengal