Listening to Philosophers
Dialogue in Varanasi
Venue : Vidya Ashram, Sarnath and Darshan Akhada, Rajghat.
Date : 12-13-14 October 2019 , Saturday, Sunday, Monday.
13th is Sharad Poornima
All those interested are invited
Introductory Remarks
When all politics is bereft of ideological
considerations, there is need of a philosophical intervention. When ordinary
life gets very muddled and moral imperatives fail to provide the criteria of resolution, philosophical intervention becomes imperative and inevitable. The world today appears to be in the grip of changes which have no promise for a better world.
What is the contemporary philosophical scene which
may come to rescue? Where do we look for philosophers, who we should like to
listen to?
Where
we look for may be - new epistemological foundations in the wake of the
emergence of the virtual world, reflections on the human condition in the wake
of the new forms of oppression let loose by the New Empire, debates on Climate
Justice, culturally rooted thought on economics and politics, holistic thought
as against piecemeal, art as preferred way of thinking over science, lokavidya
darshan when organized knowledge is seen as hand maiden of the state,
neighbourhood as primary form of social organisation and the like.
Every
department of human life and social organization has undergone huge changes
since the appearance of the internet and the world wide web, close to 30 years ago.
Economics, politics, trade, social organization, finance, industry, education,
science research and finally also ordinary life, everything has undergone great
changes. Vidya Ashram has tried to look at these changes by its research,
investigations and dialogues pertaining to the world of knowledge, particularly
the flux in it. In the process it encountered radically different approaches
for understanding the world which had different epistemological perspectives
and pointed towards new ontological constructions. New languages and idioms can
be seen emerging to enable these approaches to be true to their contexts
including the emancipatory needs of the people - farmers, women, artisans,
service providers, workers, students, adivasis and those in the market doing
business with tiny capital. One would often find that these approaches do not
accept the riders of logic, values and methods of modern science. Some of these
approaches are broadly mentioned below.
·
The Rights of Mother
Earth and buen vivir that emerged in some countries of South America
like Bolivia, Ecuador and part Colombia.
·
Lokavidya Jan Andolan in
India - an explicitly epistemological movement creating the concept of lokavidya.
· European Students Movement against corporatization of education creating the idea of Cognitive
Capitalism.
·
La Via –Campesina, an
international farmers organization and movement focusing on Climate Change and
Food Sovereignty – suggesting a Swaraj like reorganization of societal
priorities.
There
are explicit philosophical writings in the context of these movements and
phenomena. There is also wide ranging philosophical reflection which is not
rooted explicitly in these phenomena. They come from different ends like:
primacy of art in life and understanding, reassertion and innovation of traditional
ways of practice and understanding by the subaltern classes, new critique of
Science focussing on Information Technology, Bio-technology, Nano-science and
Cognitive Science, network focussed ontology, primacy of communication over
production leading to fundamental changes in how history and science need to be
viewed etc.
It is suggested that this note be shared with
persons who may be interested in this, seek their views on it and if they would
be willing to contribute to shape this dialogue with philosophers and among
philosophers. This discussion needs to be very open both on content as well as
form of this ‘listening to philosophers’. It can be conceived on a global scale
with virtual and actual forms intertwined.
Vidya Ashram
Vidya Ashram
