Department of Philosophy
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The Department of Philosophy, University of North Bengal has been awarded Special Assistance by UGC to carry on research on ‘The Problem of Meaning in Classical Indian Philosophy and Contemporary Western Philosophy’ including translation of Sanskrit texts into regional language.
Department of Philosophy, North Bengal University, Siliguri, is one of the very accomplished centers of learning and research in Philosophy. Siliguri is surrounded by four countries and the nearest Bagdogra airport is five KM, and the New Jalpaiguri railway station is 18 KM away from University campus. We pride ourselves in being a department where equal emphasis is placed on quality research as well as on development and training of students through teaching/learning and extensive teacher-student interaction.
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Item Open Access Aurobindo on Integral Yoga, Divinity and Truth and Its Relevance in Life(University of North Bengal, 2025) Aich, BikramThe main discussion of this paper is to highlight how Sri Aurobindo’s concept of integral yoga, divinity and truth are correlated concepts which jointly determine universal individuality, the objective of which is the realisation of the insights of the true meaning of life. The Life Divine of Sri Aurobindo itself manifests the divinity in life, and it states that divinity pervades everywhere, be in the mundane life or the spiritual life. Sri Aurobindo acknowledges the inner and outer life and then claims that divinity lies hidden in the inner life. All spiritual life is, in its principle, a growth into divine living. The inner life has a supreme spiritual importance, and the outer has a value only. A man thus dwells in the Divine, and he has realised the spiritual existence. The spiritual man living in the sense of spiritual self is in the realisation of the Divine within him and everywhere. The whole foundation of the gnostic life must be by its very nature inward and not outward. The main strategy of this paper is to envisage in what sense Sri Aurobindo's concept of Integral Yoga, Divinity and Truth has overcome the imperfect existence of a man and helped a man to become a universal individual transcendentally. One has to become a timeless, eternal being.Item Open Access Kant’s Conception of Human Dignity: Unravelling the Moral Fabric of Humanity(University of North Bengal, 2025) Ghosh, RiyaThis paper demonstrates the significance of the Kantian prescriptive on humanity in understanding the essence of human dignity for the larger good of humanity. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to specify the importance of the three formulations of the Categorical Imperative in promoting human dignity. Here, I want to portray how Kant’s moral system gives us a way to foster human dignity. This paper responds to the following questions: Is there any gap between the Kantian conception of human dignity and how humans perceive human dignity? How Kantian morality is crucial in preserving human dignity in today’s world? This paper also seeks to define what humans must do to promote and sustain human dignity under the Kantian moral framework.Item Open Access Defense of Frege’s ‘Third Realm’(University of North Bengal, 2025) Sarkar, ReshmeeFrege’s semantic theory is known as sense-reference theory. This semantic theory is primarily associated with the concept of thought. His semantic theory is based on the identification of sense and reference of formalised language. As a referential semanticist, Frege attempted to ensure the meaning of language with regard to the concept of truth. Now, the concept of truth cannot be determined without the concept of thought. The concept of thought is an umbrella term comprising feelings, emotions, sentiments, descriptions, etc. According to Frege, philosophy, thought and language are intertwined with each other. For Frege, the problem of language is not associated primarily with the referential aspect of language, rather it is associated with the mode of presentation of language what he termed as sense. And while determining the sense of a sentence, Frege brings the concept of thought. Thoughts, for Frege, exist independently of human beings and it is for the humans to grasp the thoughts. They are timelessly true, something like Platonic ideas. Being a semanticist, Frege at the very outset of his philosophical career developed his anti-psychological position. To differ from Lockean ideas, he introduced context principle in his philosophy of language. Thoughts, for Frege, are neither physical nor mental. Unlike ideas, thoughts are objective. He admitted third realm as the locus of thought, which is comparable to but different from both physical and mental. The aim of this paper is to redeem Frege from some transgression by contemporary philosophers on his conception of third realm.Item Open Access Freedom as the Core of Art: A Sartrean Account(University of North Bengal, 2025) Poddar, SubhankarThis article explores Jean-Paul Sartre’s conception of freedom and its integral role in artistic creation. In his seminal work Being and Nothingness, Sartre distinguishes between two realms of being — being-in-itself and being-for-itself. Sartre argues that consciousness, unlike objects, is inherently free because it can negate, reflect, and imagine alternatives. Freedom, for Sartre, is not simply a philosophical idea but a practical condition of existence that allows humans to define themselves. This freedom, according to Sartre, is what enables conscious beings to transcend the deterministic world of objects and engage in self-reflection, choice, and creation. Art, for Sartre, is not a mere representation or imitation of the world but a creation that reflects the artist’s subjective experience and freedom. It challenges traditional notions of art and instead emphasizes the active role of both the artist and the spectator in interpreting and giving meaning to the artwork. By engaging with art, the spectator participates in the process of creation, bringing their own freedom to the interpretation. Finally, the article shows how freedom is the foundation for artistic creation.Item Open Access How Putnam Collapses the Fact Value Dichotomy(University of North Bengal, 2025) Sarkar, Bijay KumarHilary Putnam's philosophical work critiques the entrenched dichotomy between facts and values established by logical positivism and highlights intrinsic interconnection of fact and value. Putnam contends that philosophical discourse should embrace ordinary language, balancing clarity with the need for innovative thought, thereby avoiding the pitfalls of academic pretentiousness. He argues against the notion that ethical values exist independently from empirical facts, asserting instead that ethical judgments possess genuine truth-value and are predominantly influenced by underlying values that guide scientific inquiry. By emphasizing the role of "thick ethical concepts," which carry both descriptive and evaluative elements, he challenges the reductionist view held by traditional empiricists. Putnam posits that observations are not value-neutral; rather, they are shaped by the epistemic standards one employs, thus asserting that every factual assertion is inherently value-laden. Ultimately, he advocates for a more nuanced understanding of moral philosophy that acknowledges the complex interplay between empirical reality and ethical considerations, urging for their integration rather than separation in philosophical inquiry. Through this, Putnam seeks to illuminate how our understanding of the world is deeply entwined with the values we hold, thereby transforming ethical discussions into rational inquiries that enrich both philosophical and scientific discourse.Item Open Access The Sustainability of Tribal Women in Jharkhand: A Philosophical and Cultural Investigation(University of North Bengal, 2025) Pandey, Binay KumarThis study explores the contributions of Santali women to sustainable development, focusing on philosophical orientation of their culture and traditional insight. Conducted in the Dhanbad and Dumka districts, the research involved 110 women respondents. Through ethnographic fieldwork and in-depth interviews, the study documents sustainable farming techniques, water management skills, medicinal practices, and social activities. The findings highlight the significant role of Santali women in promoting environmental stewardship, community resilience, and cultural preservation. This paper brings out struggles in terms of resource constraint, educational barriers, and insufficient government support. The analysis, using SPSS, includes descriptive statistics, regression analysis, ANOVA, and multidimensional scaling, providing a thorough comprehension of the respondents' contributions. The study concludes by emphasizing the significance of inculcating primitive insight into sustainable development frameworks and recommends further research to explore specific mechanisms for policy integration, comparative studies with other indigenous societies, and the consequence of global environmental changes on traditional practices.Item Open Access The Role of Media Ethics: A Philosophical Quest(University of North Bengal, 2025) Sharma, Reeta Kumari; Barman, BiswajitIn today’s scenario the role of media as such plays a vital role to reconstruct and rejuvenate the society, community, country, and nation. In short it can be said that media is the mouthpiece of present generation. The media, at large, is spreading ever across the globe by leaps and bounds. Media in haste become more pervasive and in turn gain more influence. However, the general perception of media in many areas of the world is of a decline as far as ethical standards are concerned. This, in turn, creates a gulf between public and private life. Media of different forms, such as, print media, television, etc., is biased, unfair, and inaccurate in the sense of violating the codes of conducts. This is where the relevance of ethics. Media must be accorded by ethical rules and principles because media as a business enterprise deals with public. It has a great role in bringing harmony and integrity of the society. Unfortunately, media in these days’ work as an agent of the Government. When the Government of a country is corrupted and if media works at the hand of Government, it would bring a wrong signal to the society. Media must act with freedom and responsibility. The accountability of media cannot be set aside. Media is responsible to the society. The main strategy of my paper is to explore and examine with critical outlook the role and responsibility of media persons.Item Open Access Wittgenstein on Aesthetics: The Silent Language of Beauty(University of North Bengal, 2025) Banerjee, Moumita; Dhar, TriptiThis paper examines Ludwig Wittgenstein's contributions to the philosophy of aesthetics, charting the development of his ideas from his early work, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (TLP), to his later text, Philosophical Investigations (PI). Wittgenstein’s aesthetic philosophy is marked by a shift from a more formal, structured perspective in TLP to a pragmatic, context-dependent understanding in PI. In TLP, Wittgenstein’s early philosophy of language suggests that aesthetic experiences and judgments fall within the realm of the ineffable, belonging to what cannot be said but only shown. Aesthetic values, like ethical and metaphysical truths, are outside the limits of language that can describe facts, leading to the idea that aesthetics, though deeply meaningful, transcends propositional language. In his later work, Wittgenstein moves away from the notion of a rigid logical structure and adopts the idea of "language games," highlighting the importance of context, usage, and the varied nature of language in influencing aesthetic understanding. Aesthetic judgments are seen as interwoven with particular forms of life, and Wittgenstein introduces the notion of "family resemblance" to account for the fluid, non-essentialist way we speak about beauty, art, and taste. Here, the focus shifts from trying to define aesthetics in abstract terms to analyzing how we talk about and engage with aesthetic experiences in everyday life. This inquiry examines both periods of Wittgenstein’s thought, comparing his early mystical conception of aesthetics with his later pragmatic approach. The paper contends that Wittgenstein's later work provides a more adaptable and socially rooted approach to interpreting aesthetic discourse. In this paper includes an introduction part, then section one to section four we’ve discussed various aspects of Aesthetic view of Wittgensein’s philosophy.Item Open Access The Bhakti Cult’s Vision of Religious Reformation: A Secular Strategy for The Modern World(University of North Bengal, 2025) Bhattacharya, ApabritaThis 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.Item Open Access Environmental Justice: An Outlook(University of North Bengal, 2025) Sarkar, Pankoj KantiEnvironmental justice has emerged as a central theme in contemporary global environmentalism since the 1970s. Environmental justice has become an essential counterpoint to conventional environmentalism, focusing on the connection between social equity and environmental concerns. It highlights how marginalized communities often bear the brunt of environmental degradation and advocates for their inclusion in environmental policymaking. This movement seeks to address not only ecological concerns but also the social, political, and economic realities that shape environmental harm and benefit distribution. Environmental justice emphasizes collective experiences of injustice and aims to empower affected communities to achieve self-determination. It broadens the scope of environmentalism to include everyday issues affecting human life, such as housing and employment and seeks to redistribute the loads of environmental harm more equitably. Despite the absence of a universally accepted explanation of environmental justice, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) characterizes it as ensuring fair treatment and significant involvement of all people in environmental decision-making. The movement demands a transformative perspective that integrates environmental protection with social justice, advocating for a holistic understanding of justice that encompasses both human and non-human well-being. Overall, the discussions surrounding intrinsic value, environmental ethics, and justice reveal a complex interplay of philosophical perspectives and practical considerations, underscoring the need for inclusive and equitable approaches to addressing environmental challenges.