Philosophy is about our faith, our beliefs systems!
We can’t live and breathe without philosophy, you know? If not, it is time we know. Our education’s disabilities are many. One is not to have given us a belief system, a faith in our own terms of living. We don’t live, we just exist! That is how existentialism as a philosophy came about in Europe. In India itself, we don’t connect our past with our present. We have far too many experts, but all status quo-minded, all pro-establishment. What does that mean? We don’t imagine there must be intellectual independence. Unless we create a mind space, certain basic courage, how can we usher in new thinking? We imagine, our politicians, our entreprenuers, our bureuacrats, scientists or even literary men are neough? No, no!
We need original thinkers, thinkers who can dare and think differently, think afresh.
These are all the thoughts that should go into a new philosophy’s new philosophy for our times, for India, for Indian education and way of life. Our traditions must be brought update with our current challenges to new knowledge.
Here we share some thoughts about what our ideas of philosophy, faith and belief systems can be sustained in the new age, in the new century.
Philosophy or reasoning or faith or set of our beliefs have to be sustainable in the light of rigorous arguments and logic.
Karl Popper (1902-1994) along with others like Wittgenstein (1889-1951) sought to equip our thoughts with certain new concepts. These are all worth knowing ands worth understanding for how we can test our beliefs with such rigorous tests of proof. Popper is one who gave us certain theories of truths in sciences, how to sustain the truth is to test whether a scientific theory makes predictions that could in principle serve to falsify it. These are all radical theories but we have to employment them even in our own search for truths. Popper also believed in an open society. Freedom of the mind is their first quest. Education must ensure this basic dictum of mental freedom. Not curb the freedoms under so many pretexts.
1 Karl Popper (1902-1994)
2. Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)
3. The author at the New College Gate in 1989