Philosophical Papers Journal of Department of Philosophy

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This journal is a yearly philosophical journal published by the Dept. of Philosophy, University of North Bengal. Philosophical Papers: Journal of the Department of Philosophy, welcomes contributions from all fields of philosophy. The editorial policy of the journal is to promote the study of philosophy, Eastern and Western in all its branches: Epistemology, Metaphysics, Logic, Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy, and the Philosophy of Science, Mind, Religion and Language. However, it would like its contributors to focus on what they consider to be significantly new and important. The contributions should, as far as possible, avoid jargon and the authour’s contention should be stated in as simple a language as possible.

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    The Bhakti Cult’s Vision of Religious Reformation: A Secular Strategy for The Modern World
    (University of North Bengal, 2025) Bhattacharya, Apabrita
    This paper aims to explain the origin and significance of the Bhakti cult in medieval India. Though it has significant social and religious overtones, the Bhakti movement is fundamentally spiritual. The Bhakti movement may also be viewed as an effort to lessen animosity among various religious groups. Even though the movement originated in South India, its secular worldview quickly expanded throughout the nation. During the era of the Bhakti movement, there was a noticeable and profound shift in society. It encourages the idea of religious cooperation and fights against bigotry and social injustice. This paper has attempted to define the role played by Bhakti saints in fostering social cohesion. Secularism seeks to foster a few tolerant, cooperative ideals in our contemporary culture to create an unbiased, conflict-free environment. In this paper, I intend to demonstrate the principles of religious unity, emphasised by a few well-known Bhakti saints, that offer a secular perspective and strive for social welfare.
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    Wittgenstein’s Counter-explanatory take on Religion
    (University of North Bengal, 2025) Jha, Purbayan
    If we try to understand any philosophy of religion in Ludwig Wittgenstein’s writings we may not find one, still his remarks on religious beliefs and languages draw some interesting points that could tempt us to look at religions and religious practices with an open ended perspective. Wittgenstein’s Remarks on Frazer’s Golden Bough is an example of his approach against explanation of religious beliefs and rituals. Wittgenstein thinks that the explanation of killing the priest-king in order to keep his soul as fresh does not add any significant value to the religious discourses. Any kind of metaphysical thematization in this regard is better to get rid of, as far as Wittgenstein’s views are concerned. Rather he takes an anthropological approach to religion and its practices, where the practices are intertwined with his notions of language-games and forms of life. D.Z. Phillips addresses the fact that in Wittgenstein’s earlier writings on Frazer we find that there could be a principle in the language by which all the rituals could be ordered, but later on as Rush Rhees points out, it has been found that the imagination of ritual implies it imagining in a form of life. Our urge for explanation often takes us to a juggernaut from where it becomes so much difficult to return and have peace. I will be trying to show how clarity in the Wittgensteinian sense could help us better to comprehend the value of religion and have impact over our religious discourse. Rituals in religion can’t be based on evidences, like what is done in science. Religion is based on faith. If there is loss of faith in God, then it need not be based on rational justification rather a shift in the form of life where the older language might seem meaningless to the concerned person.
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    Wittgenstein on meaning of life
    (University of North Bengal, 2024-03) Ghosh, Avhijit
    The key contention of this paper is to explain the concept of the higher value and its role in realizing the meaning of life after Wittgenstein. Concerning value, Wittgenstein does not hold the position of classical ethicist; instead, he understands ethics based on the linguistic and logical analysis of the world. It is a debatable question about what type of book Tractatus is. Some would say that it is a book of logic. Others would say it is a book of ethics and religion, etc. However, such opinions regarding the book show its multifarious philosophical dimensions. This paper consciously tries to determine the profound significance of the concept of higher value (mystical). At the outset, Wittgenstein does not show his concern concerning ethical and religious values; rather, he is concerned with determining the sense of the world or reality through the language-reality relationship. However, it doesn’t provide him with intellectual and philosophical satisfaction. Therefore, he turns his mind towards the limits of language and the world, which takes him into a realm of nonsense and mysticism. It also helps him realize higher values (mystical) and allows him to determine the meaning of life and the world. This also takes him to a certain ineffable truth about which he possesses silence. For him, ethics, aesthetics, and religion pertaining to value are interconnected as they are concerned with the same view about the world as sub specie aeternitatis. Wittgenstein distinguishes between absolute value and relative value. What is relative is accidental and related to the factual world. On the other hand, what is absolute is non-accidental lies beyond the limits of language and the world. Thus, what is non- accidental is transcendental. As it is transcendental, it is inexpressible. Thus, for Wittgenstein, value is deeply connected with happiness, i.e., the meaning of life and the world. Hence, the paper makes a conscious effort to show the philosophical significance of the concept of higher value by employing linguistic and logical analysis of the world and how it is deeply connected to the meaning of life and the world.