Department of Philosophy
Permanent URI for this communityhttps://ir.nbu.ac.in/handle/123456789/3303
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.
Browse
5 results
Search Results
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.Item Open Access Sartre on Three Waves of Ethics: A Philosophical Reflection(University of North Bengal, 2025) Sutradhar, TulikaIn this research paper, an attempt has been made to analyze Sartre’s consideration of morality by following his philosophical approach to human existence. Many thinkers have disdained to regard Sartre’s existentialism as a moral philosophy because of his negative analysis of human existence. Sartre himself promised in his Being and Nothingness that he would further work on morality and indeed he developed his moral thought gradually in his later writings. However, in various ways, Sartre has been criticized for his moral thought, particularly for his doctrine of the key concept of freedom. It is noticed from Sartre’s philosophical works that he has shifted his morality from one phase to another. His moral philosophy is divided into three major sections which are interrelated with each other. However, the subsequent versions are far more enriched than the previous ones. This article aims to explore the underlying insight of the transition from one ethical wave to another ethical wave with a critical outlook.Item Open Access Idealising Politics: Cross-questioning the Conventional Account(University of North Bengal, 2025) Bhowal, NabanitaIn this paper I intend to map out an alternative way of doing politics as the current form of politics and political activities of many countries could not keep up with the expectations of their people. There is also a general perception that moral degeneration is exceptionally high in this arena, and hence, purging political activities is a need of the hour. The moot question is how we can have these tidying-up activities done. To my mind, blending ethics with politics is one way of doing this. I depicted this point, and while doing this, I analysed the power dynamics, using various prominent scholars' views in this area. After that, I wanted to show that an alternative way of politicking was not merely fiction in the imagination. It indeed can be put into practice. Finally, I raised a question that has been troubling my mind for quite a long time. In ethics, there are various lines of thinking. Do these multiple lines involve any manoeuvring, which is questionable in itself?Item Open Access Wittgenstein on meaning of life(University of North Bengal, 2024-03) Ghosh, AvhijitThe 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.Item Open Access ATHEIST SEARCH FOR MORALITY IN 19TH CENTURY(University of North Bengal, 2023-03) CHAKRABARTI, MALABIKA