Balagangadhara

First: there is nothing morally wrong in posting an opinion. My problem is that (a) it occurs within the context of generating and criticising knowledge; (b) its cognitive value is either zero or negative; (c) it is presented as though thoughtless opinions (almost all opinions are thoughtless) form a counterpoint to knowledge or are themselves candidates for knowledge (the latter are the …

You say: “As far as I know, “doxastic coherence” means consistency in beliefs and that is all that is of relevance here.” It is not. Doxastic coherence is coherence between beliefs considered as opinions; its contrast set is “epistemic coherence” i.e., coherence between beliefs as knowledge claims. Further, in some senses, while there can be no coherence if there is no (logical) consistency …

No, I cannot explain the real; nor has anybody else in the world. Even more radically: the Real can never be ‘explained’, nor will there be an explanatory theory, ever (that is what is meant by ‘providing an explanation’ or speak of explaining) about the real. Well, if the ‘Real’ comprises of “all these doctrines” then the Real is the world of ideas as distinct from the material and the mental …

You say: “there seems to be an underlying assumption that all participants in the thread seem to be making. The assumption being that all these texts have the same end goal in mind, and that this end goal is enlightenment/eudaimonia/happiness. I submit that such an assumption is unwarranted.” It is not an assumption but an explicit hypothesis, as far as I am concerned, that all the Indian …

If you want to use Nirvana Shatkam*,* it might be more productive to choose translations which do the job that the text can. Because of that, a ‘faithful’ translation of Sanskrit into English is not the primary requirement; the process and the goal should determine how the words are best understood. With this in mind, some suggestions regarding the translation of the Sanskrit verses. It is …

The problem is more complicated and the implications far more massive than either of us can even dream of. In fact, I think we are not even aware of the nature, size and the dimensions of the problem(s) today. We do not even know whether we are dealing with something called the ‘translation’ problem or whole sets of other issues and problems that also redefine what it is to ‘translate’ texts …

Increasingly loud voices are to be heard from different capital cities in India about growing intolerance in Indian society. The western press picks up echoes and magnifies them, while ridiculing Modi’s visit to Great Britain. While one can understand that Indians chant mantras, why are Europeans reproducing them? Looking from the outside, this is a very puzzling phenomenon. Because it is unclear …

Our recent piece on the valedictory speech of the minister of HRD at a Kolkata workshop elicited many replies from the readers. Some found that we indulged in a personal attack, our piece lacked “logic” and “argumentation” and one of her secret admirers, in her defence, even sent us a link to a report by Saptadwipa Ghosal in The Echo of India. Such responses demand an adequate reply. Actually, we …

From the mouth of some babes, pearls of wisdom and truth fall like gentle rain from heaven. From the mouth of others, idiocies pour in a torrent and are considered truth only because they occupy positions of power. We leave it to the reader to decide to which group our minister of human resource development Smriti Irani belongs. Keep in mind that she determines to a large extent the course of …

There are three ideas in the West about Law that are taken as axioms. The first: all societies are founded on Law; if they are not, they ought to be. The second is that Law teaches and educates a people. Third is their corollary: only thus do a people become a Nation. As far as I know, none has shown their empirical truth or proved that they are logically necessary. But their truth-value is …

Check this: http://witness-to-our-times.org/

See Balu’s piece on Bihar elections, Nov 2015 .

Check Balu’s piece on Derrida’s the force of law .

What happens to the future of Indian intellectual scene when most of projects driven by its intelligentsia propagate perverted truths for self-seeking purposes? “Satyam Vada, Dharmam Chara”, “Satyameva Jayate” are but two of the well-known Sanskrit sayings that are supposed to indicate the values placed upon truth and truth-telling in Indian culture. It comes as a surprise, therefore, to read …

Check Balagangadhara’s paper on Caste-based reservations and ‘social justice’

I When I took the caste-system as an example , what am I doing? I am showing that turning the standard story on its head is a child’s play: caste has been said to be an antiquated, rigid, dogmatic, etc social structure, which is “very difficult” to eradicate. If this is true, most of the rantings seem to subscribe to this text book story, then this can be put on its head very easily. A word of …

Today, India has become a global player of significant political and economical impact. Europe and India are facing each other as equal partners in pursuit of greater economic and political co-operation. This confronts both India and Europe with a challenge. The intelligentsia, the business world, politicians, educators and others, will have to answer the following question: What can India offer …

Read Jakob de Roover’s piece on reservations on dailyon.in & on swarjyamag . From the perspective of constitution, constitution debates, check https://www.academia.edu/16478230/Caste-based_reservation_and_social_justice_in_India The problem that has plagued India since Independence has flared up again: caste-based reservations for education, employment and career promotions. In the last four …

The relation between religion and politics remains one of the important issues of our time. The discussions on this relation swing between two extremes: religious fundamentalism and liberal secularism. These are regarded as opposites. As the liberal perspective sees it, the secular state and its principles of neutrality and toleration are antidotes to religious fundamentalism[1]. Recently, this …

The religious idea I am talking about in chapter 3 is this: Concrete and abstract characterize human thinking in the different phases of its development. By the time we reach chapter 7, and start thinking in terms of ‘secularization’, I will be talking about secularizing religious themes with respect to the same. Neither the words ‘concrete’ or ‘abstract’, nor the concepts associated with them …