Skip to main content

Freedom and Salvation: Beyond Class Instinct

Sectarian violence could be understood in context of its origin, structure, and implications. Naturally, violence has something to do with violation of ethical standard of life. Human being is supposed to be a rational animal, who is able to appreciate what is the value of autonomous life and free will. To use a Kantian metaphysical category; human being, though is integral to nature, has capacity to transcend its limitations, so as to overcome the ramifications of ergotism, inclinations, passion, greed, desire, and so on. Human being as a legislator of moral law is supposed to write his or her own law, which is not supposed to be guided by external heternomous limitations. To choose something, motivated by reward or due to fear of punishment is no choosing in the lexicon of Immanuel Kant. Such act remains too mechanistic and determined by the causality of nature. Though, I don't accept his reductionist approach towards nature, which was, of course, guided by Cartesian and Newtonian philosophies of mechanistic worldview. However, Kant was able to develop his moral philosophy in the influence of pietism and stoicism. His focus on inner life or inner order signifies his commitment towards spirituality. Spirituality, in words of William James, is central to the inner order of human being. It is a psychological attitude towards phenomenon. In ancient, medieval, and modern world, people sacrificed their lives for false cause in the name of glorification of sect or class. What did they achieve in doing so? A miserable society, consisting of immense suffering. Violence is not simply a social or psychological phenomenon. It is equally related to spiritual, as well as common consciousness or "collective unconscious" of society, to use a well known concept of Carl Jung. Glorification of sect, howsoever higher has its principles, is extremely inequitable and unjust, and which has tendency to create chasm among all the diversified classes of society. Criticism is significant for moral progress. But there is a thin line difference between criticism and violence. That demarcation must be respected. On the other hand, no violence is justified even if it is deployed in retaliation. Class consciousness has it own limitation. Unless a human being is free from class or sect mentality, spiritual freedom is impossible to achieve. Religion is desirable for spiritual growth, but it must not be misused for a romantic glorification of past or a collective future. Somehow, the scope of individual to choose his or her own way of salvation, is the most cherished goal, which, it seems to be impossible in our world of struggle for identity.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Human's Rationality: Its Unfree-Freedoms

Cosmic energy is moving into various forms and patterns, its quest is to become, what Arthur Schopenhauer called 'will to live'.  (Arthur Schopenhauer, 1818). He is explicit that: “Thus the will to live everywhere preys upon itself, and in different forms is its own nourishment, till finally the human race, because it subdues all the others, regards nature as a manufactory for its own use. Yet even the human race...reveals in itself with most terrible distinctness this conflict, this variance of the will with itself…”. Every ‘will to become' is a movement, encompassing the history of past and future; the degree of rationality and its gradation are normativized by thoughts as hierarchy of souls and monads. Human being as likeness and image of God possess the highest truth, indeed! In fact, human being is the only species who possess and owns the truth, it is the only mode of being who puts truth at stake, constructs its horizons and claim of legitimacy and illegitimacy, defi...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Reciprocal Grounding of Freedom and Moral Law in Kant's Critique of Practical Reason

I Introduction: The Problem of Transcendental Freedom In Immanuel Kant's practical philosophy, transcendental freedom and the moral law are established not as independent concepts but as reciprocally determinant principles. This blog examines the central thesis of the Critique of Practical Reason, which posits that the moral law serves as the ratio cognoscendi (the reason for knowing) of freedom, while freedom is the ratio essendi (the reason for being) of the moral law. We become aware of our freedom only because we are first conscious of the moral law as an unconditional command; the "ought" reveals the "can." Conversely, the moral law itself could not exist as a binding principle were freedom not a real property of the will. Through a critical analysis of Kant’s text, this paper traces his argument from the rejection of all empirical moral theories to the establishment of a purely formal law, known as a "fact of reason." This analysis reveals how Ka...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Physical Basis of Conscious Life: A Synthesis of William James's Physiological Psychology

I Introduction: Bridging Physiology and Psychology William James, in his landmark work The Principles of Psychology, provides a foundational framework connecting the brain's physiological mechanisms to the purposive, selective, and unified nature of conscious mental life. This blog analyzes James’s synthesis, which grounds psychological phenomena in the material workings of the nervous system without reducing consciousness to a mere epiphenomenon. We will explore his hierarchical model of the brain, which evolves from simple reflex actions in the lower nerve centers to the complex, deliberative functions of the cerebrum. Key themes include the role of the cerebrum as an organ of foresight and prudence, the physiological mechanism of habit as the process by which experience physically imprints itself upon the brain’s plastic matter, and consciousness's essential function as a “selecting agency” that is causally efficacious in steering the organism toward its own interests. Ultim...
Post a Comment
Read more