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Ethics in administration : problems and some ways to reinforce it
(University of North Bengal, 2022) Roy, Joly; Basak, Jyotish Chandra
In the present scenario, the maintenance of moral standards and norms in the conduct of public affairs in a democratic country tends to become a major problem for the people because of different labels of Government and the involvement of many public functionaries in Government. Historically speaking, neither a capitalist nor a socialist nor a welfare state is immune to the corrosive evil of corruption. This problem is continuing and, therefore, the matter is a continuing debate. There is a widespread feeling that the present context all over the world; more so in our country, is such that the many facets of ethics in public life merit scrutiny. Many laws, rule books, and codes of regulations have been initiated to eliminate or control corrupt practices. Bribery reigns in every government office, from the highest officials to every table. No work is done without bribery. A doctor is a respectful person to the patient, but when the patient goes to that doctor for treatment, he prescribes various unnecessary medicines and tests for a certain diagnostic center with which often the doctor has cordial relations. The police officer even if he or she is honest and strict, sometimes had to follow the unethical order of the political leaders. Even the small traders of common fish and vegetables in the market have understood that there is no way to survive if they do not get involved with corruption. If we do a close examination of society, we will find that the public today is bewildered by the octopus of corruption. Many acts of omission and commission have been set up to fight against these illegal practices. But the researcher believes that these efforts taken to control corrupt practices can only work on the external side of the problem. To eradicate it, we must address the internal aspect of the problem. To solve the problem internally, the researcher believes that we need to inculcate ethical codes or values among the administrators as well as the other section of society. Despite, the fact that several studies have focused on the importance of Ethics in Administration, there have been very few efforts spent on identifying what exactly constitutes the crux of ethics in administration. This is one of the logical reasons for selecting this area of study. Giving a rich background on the incidence of political corruption in Indian administration covering its features, forms, causes, and impact; the present study proposes to discuss: the political context of public morality and the factors which impede its operation in Indian Tradition; the need for ethics in present administration; and components of ethical conduct of administrator. The main objective of the thesis is to examine the implications of the basic principles of ethics as projected in the Arthaśāstra Tradition and Nītiśāstras Tradition in the Indian context which formed the base of ancient Indian Administration and discusses their impact on different administration imperatives which in turn act as the determinants of ethics in administration in current times. This study will also focus on the importance of ethics in eliminating corruption concerning the push and pull of ethics and administration and how mindsets and basic approaches to administration and governance can be changed. The objective of the study raises some questions that the researcher seeks to answer are: 1. What are the teachings or training a king or an administrator should follow to set up good governance according to Arthaśāstra Tradition and Nītiśāstra Tradition? 2. Was Rājdharma the model of good governance? 3. What is corruption, what are the different types of corruption, and how is corruption understood at the administrative level? 4. How to inculcate ethical values to fight administrative corruption? For the study, the researcher has used philosophical, comparative, and analytical methods of textual analysis. The texts and concepts that deal with the ethical codes, and corruption of Administration from ancient to the present day, the researcher attempts a close textual reading of the literature produced with an overreaching historical perspective. For the betterment of analysis, the researcher has divided the thesis into six chapters – I. “Introduction” II. “Insights from the Indian Tradition and Praxis: Arthaśāstra Tradition and the Nītiśāstra Tradition” III. “Rājdharma: A Coinage for Good Governance in Ancient India” IV. “Administrative Corruption: Causes and Remedies” V. “Ethical Codes: The Reinforcement of Morality in Administration” VI. “Conclusion” Chapter I – Introduction The chapter covers the main arguments, justification, and scope of this thesis. This chapter highlights the context of the study, objectives, research questions, review of literature, and methodology of the study which the researcher has already discussed in the above section. Chapter II - Insights from the Indian Tradition and Praxis: Arthaśāstra Tradition and the Nītiśāstra Tradition In this chapter, the researcher has discussed the origin of the state and its functionaries according to the Shastrakars of Ancient India. As it is a vast area and could not be possible to go through all the Śāstras, the researcher has selected certain Śāstras. These are the Arthaśātra of Kauṭilya (other Arthaśātras are no longer extant) and Nītiśāstras. Of Nītiśāstra tradition we have selected three Nītiśāstras― Śukra Nītiśāsāra, Kāmandakiya Nītiśāsāra and Nītivākyamitram. Other than these, the researcher has also discussed Tiruvalluvar's Tirukkural which was originally written in the Tamil language. Kauṭilya in his Arthaśātra suggested strong and strict discipline for the king as well as for the administrators. He pointed out that a strong leader must bring order to an anarchical society. His Arthaśātra contained principles that gave rise to the ethical values for all political functionaries in Indian tradition from the king to the lowest level of public servants. Kauṭilya thinks that only through Daṇdanīti a ruler or king can bring his subjects dharma, artha as well as kama. In his Arthaśātra, he gave several instances to show that when Daṇdanīti is adhered to with the utmost care then only the three principles of life are fulfilled. In administration, this Daṇdanīti should be used to offer security and well-being to the people. The Nītiśāstra thinker Jaina Saint Somdeva Suri in his Nītivākyamitram, blended Arthaśātra principles and Dharmasāstra principles to offer his viewpoint. He said that we need to pursue all four purposes of life – dharma, artha, kama, and moksha in a well-balanced manner without giving over importance to either one. By following this only society can be ruled in a disciplined way. Like Kauṭilya, he thinks that governance and administration are arts that the king and his other organs such as the minister, and civil servants must acquire through proper education and training. The welfare of the people should be the final aim of the king and his administration. Another Nītiśāstra thinker, Kāmandaka in his Nītiśāstra talked about several moral principles regarding the behaviour of a ruler and his subjects. In his book, he talked about various teachings that he thought were important for the monarch to acquire, maintain and increase the territory and wealth. He thinks that the king and his administration should have knowledge of Śāstras which will lead to humility in them. He advised the king to control the six emotions - lust, fury, avarice, devilish joy in hurting others, a desire for honour, and hubris and the main concern should be the welfare of the people. Kāmandaka also suggested four types of learning for the king— Ānvīkṣikī, Trayee, Vartā, and Daṇdanīti. He laid down a detailed code of conduct for the king. The other Nītiśāstra thinker selected for the study, Śukrāchaya in his Nītiśāsāra emphasizes the necessity of a moral code in ruling a state. These moral codes can upkeep the relationship between the king and his subjects, between subjects themselves, and can have peace and prosperity in the state. To preserve order in society, Śukrāchaya suggested following Swadharma. According to Śukrāchaya, a king's swadharma is to see that his subjects uphold swadharma. He has been instructed to employ daṇda to make sure that swadharma is being followed. The most significant penance is the practice of swadharma. He also talks about how in ruling a state properly, the seven organs play an important role. Śukrāchārya also thinks that the king should have knowledge of Śāstras which will help to bring order to society. He speaks about the eight duties of a king like the Arthaśātra and Nītiśāstra thinkers. He also suggested the use of Daṇdanīti by the king, but it should be used very carefully otherwise it may hasten his destruction. He gave a detailed layout of the seven organs of the state. The Tamil thinker, Tiruvalluvar in his book Tirukkural which is often referred to as the Gita in South India and though it belongs to a different tradition, talks about a similar point of view. Like the Arthaśātra tradition, Tiruvalluvar also admits the function of the seven organs of the state while putting the king on top. He gave utmost importance to the education of the king. He warned the monarch to always use caution and to think things through before acting. He believed that ruling a kingdom justly and righteously renders a sense of safety and security to people at large. The Śāstraskars discussed in this chapter gave more useful insights about the way of infusing morality in administration. Thus, all these thinkers suggested that the king should have proper training or education about Śāstras and ethical values which will help him and his subjects to attain the four purposes of life – dharma, artha, kama and mokṣa. Without following the ethical codes and values, the administration cannot run properly. As the administration of a state has an important role in catering to its people the goal of life that is – mokṣa. The king’s main goal should be the welfare of the common people, and this will help him to bring order to society. Chapter III - Rājdharma: A Coinage for Good Governance in Ancient India The second chapter which is entitled “Rājdharma: A Coinage for Good Governance in Ancient India” focuses on the notion of the term Rājdharma which means king’s duties and rules of governance. Though the concept of Rājdharma was found in Śānti Parva of the Mahābhārata where Pitāmaha Bhisma advises Yudhisthira, the eldest of the Pāndava brothers, about the notion of Dharma, the role, and duties of a ruler to his people, there are many other texts which dealt with the notion of Rājdharma. For example, in Manusmṛiti, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, and even in the Ramayana, we could find the notion of Rājdharma. Rājdharma is a concept that pervaded Indian Statecraft, Diplomacy, and the polity of rulers. It implied that rulers were bound by dharma or ‘Rāj Dharma,’ which meant ensuring good governance for the people. The absence of good governance is the root cause of many societal deficiencies. The Epic Rāmāyana. contains references to good governance, diplomacy, war, and peace. The epic is filled with important ethical values. In that epic, we also come across the concept of Rāmrājya. It advocates ethical governance with principles of morality, justice to all, peace, prosperity, and welfare of the people. According to Mahatma Gandhi, Rāmrājya means the ultimate values of dharmas, upheld since time immemorial. Ramarajya as described in the Rāmāyana had all characteristics of democracy. Despite there being no electoral procedure in those days, public opinion was considered and given due importance. However, it is the Mahabābhārata that gave prominence to the notion of Rājdharma and articulated it very precisely in political morality or the art of politics. While advising Yudhisthira, Pitāmaha Bhisma initially talked about the origin of the state and its functionaries. He emphasized that the observance of Rājdharma is a must for all rulers including the trivarga. He suggested Daṇdanīti as a weapon of a kind to bring order to society. Like Kauṭilya, Bhisma also gave importance to the king. He advised that the king should have some values such as kindness, benevolence, ethics, mercy, royalty, modesty, and the overall aim should be the welfare of the people. Bhisma also prescribed proper training for the king, otherwise, the wrong application of Daṇdanīti may ruin the king and his kingdom. Manu in Manusmṛiti also discusses various aspects of Rājdharma. He was the supporter of the Divine Right theory regarding the origin of the state which subscribes to the idea that the king was the creation of God. Manu also suggested the application of Daṇda being the coercive power of authority of the ruler or the power of punishment. Manu and Kautilya share similar views regarding the application of Daṇdanīti by the king. The concept of Rājdharma as explained in this chapter makes it clear that the spirit behind Rājdharma was to ensure peace and happiness or to say maintain good governance. Without following the ethical value of Rājdharma, the administration of a state may end up in anarchical and arbitrary rule. The administration system of ancient India is repleted with several good governance instances following Rājdharma. To fight corruption in the current administration, we need to rediscover our cultural heritage, customs, practices, beliefs, and values painstakingly emancipated in our ancient scriptures. Chapter IV- Administrative Corruption: Causes and Remedies Chapter four which is entitled “Administrative Corruption: Causes and Remedies” begins with a description of the different forms of Indian Public Administration from the Ancient to post-independent period. Before the arrival of the British Raj, the mechanism of administration was quite simple as it was purely dependent on the ruler. During the colonial period, Lord Cornwallis reforms the administrative mechanism in India. Though the setup was done to deliver good governance, recruiting untrained civil servants failed to fulfil the expectation of many people. The cause of the dissatisfaction was due to the immoral practices and corruption done by the administrators. It went on such a level that even in the post-independent period, corrupt practices are sinking the country. Several rules, laws, and regulations have been implemented to fight administrative corruption. In 1962, the Santhanam committee was formed by the Government of India under the leadership of Kasturirangan Santhanam to suggest anti-corruption measures. Santhanam Committee prescribes following the ethical code of integrity to fight corruption. The committee suggested that integrity should be taught at the school, college, and university levels, as they are the main suppliers of civil servants of public administration. The chapter then discusses the issue of corruption and the need for ethics and morality in fighting corruption. In this section of the chapter, the researcher has discussed the concept of corruption by contrasting the ideas of some select thinkers across the world. Robert Kiltgarrd, a noted anti-corruption researcher, in his 1988 study Controlling Corruption (Berkeley, University of California Press) and “Addressing Corruption Together” gave very topical and useful insight on it. He composed a corruption formula that has gained wide popularity: C=M+D-A. We can explain it linguistically thus: Corruption (C) equals monopoly (M) and discretion (D) devoid of accountability (A). The three variables on which corrupt practices hinge are—Monopoly, discretion, and accountability. This amended version of the corruption formula makes it clear that only administrative and legal instruments are not enough for curbing corruption. Morality becomes an indispensable variable in fighting this menace. The discussion further moves to examine how the issue of corruption has been used by a politician. For example, the case of Benigno Aquino III who became president of the Philippines by campaigning against corruption. When he took over the government of the Philippines ranked 133 are the position of 178 countries on the GIR report of corruption. President Benigno Aquino's practical strategy and mechanism to fight against corruption using the model of other countries significantly reduced the level of corruption. As a result, in 2014 along with Georgia, and Colombia, Indonesia become the 3rd country that significantly reduce its corruption level. Kiltgaard tries to show that countries that successfully fought corruption had implemented his formula C=M+D-A. Santhanam Committee also emphasized the model of positive and negative incentives. For example, raising pay is one type of positive incentive and taking strict action against the major offenders is a negative incentive. The result is administrators will always be cautious and on their toes. But the suggestion of the Santhanam Committee has many criticisms. People believe that Lokpal institute needed to fight corruption as CBI, ED, and CVC are created for the same purpose. Whatever organization and laws are created they become an open sky for the influential few and a cobweb for the helpless mass. corruption is increasingly capturing positions of power and influence. We need to remember that when the chief of CVC is appointed, they also fall under the trap of corruption. There is no mechanism to ensure that every time man at the top will be a man of integrity. President Aquino himself maintained moral integrity as a model with the hope that others will follow him and he succeeded. Hence the need for morality in administration cannot be overlooked. Kiltgaard further goes on to say that to fight against corruption we required moral or ethical reforms. Chapter V - Ethical Codes: The Reinforcement of Morality in Administration The fifth chapter entitled “Ethical Codes: The Reinforcement of Morality in Administration” focuses on the need for ethical values in administrations. The chapter tries to examine in detail the different approaches by which administrators can imbibe ethical codes. Generally, administrators enjoy authoritarian power which often tends to corrupt them. Lord Acton commented that “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. Power enables someone to punish and prize the people. The chapter further tries to concentrate on the notion of Integrity as proposed by the Santhanam committee in the earlier chapter. To avoid corruption and the right use of power, the administrators should have integrity. Though many critics and thinkers have shared their views on the values of integrity to fight corruption, for the paucity and purpose of my study I have done a selective study on the views of Kenneth E. Boulding, Pitirim A. Sorokin, Johnston, B.V, Dag Hammarskjold, Mahatma Gandhi, Buddha, Subhash Ch. Bose, Sri Aurobindo, Damian Cox, Greg Scherkske, Gabriele Taylor and son on. After analyzing the viewpoint of these thinkers, we can say that the use of power is very important in administration. As it can easily fool someone to choose corruption. Therefore, the discussion focussed on ethical values so that the administrator should positively use power and have altruistic love in themselves. Integrity and morality can help an administrator to follow this path and inculcate ethical values in them. Chapter VI - Conclusion While focusing on the objectives of the thesis discovered that – 1. A close study of Śāstras makes us realize that the authors of these works firmly believed that the mere law of the land is not enough to keep Mātsya nyāya at bay. 2. All the authors discussed in the second chapter, despite the divergence of opinions are at one about the necessity of ethical codes in administration. Nowadays when we lament the
Open Access
The justification of human existence (Satta) : A socio-ethical perspective
(University of North Bengal, 2022) Haldar, Buddhiswar; Ghosh, Raghunath
Open Access
John Lockes theory of Konwledge : A critical assessment
(University of North Bengal, 2022) Basak, Mrinal Kanti; Basak, Jyotish Chandra
The present work entitled ‘JOHN LOCKE’S THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE: A CRITICAL ASSESSMENT’ is done in partial fulfilment of the work of my Ph. D. programme. It primarily deals with the British philosopher John Locke’s theory of knowledge. The theory of knowledge advocated by a philosopher, or a group of philosophers, usually gets a lot of importance as other theories of him/them are based on his/their epistemological theories. Locke was not an exception in this regard. Rather his theory of knowledge has some extra importance, to my mind. It is so as it posed a challenge to the existing traditions, prevalent at that time, such as rationalistic and idealistic tendencies and set an alternative approach to philosophizing. To put it more precisely, the empiricist fashion that he initiated left a seminal impact in the philosophical arena. It is this thing that attracted me and hence I decide to work on this topic. Initiating the first step to an alternative approach is a bit risky task. As it is quite difficult to free the thinker completely from the previously time-tested line of thinking. This is also true in the case of John Locke. He was a bit controversial figure due to a number of reasons. Hence, considerable time he had to spend abroad. This also brought an opportunity to him to engage with thinkers of different unfamiliar lines of thinking. Influences of these are palpable in his philosophy. In spite of his strong advocacy of empiricist theory of knowledge, we find rationalistic elements in his philosophy. On account of this, his theory of knowledge has been subjected to severe criticism. In spite of these criticisms, his theory brought a revolution in philosophy. This I intended to show in my present endeavour. In discussing his theory of knowledge, I divided my discussion into six chapters. In the first chapter, I have given a brief life history of him as I thought that a glimpse of his life and writings will be helpful to place him in the right context. His main book on the theory of knowledge was An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. I tried to have a cursory look of the different essays of this treatise. Then I gave a chapter plan as I thought that a blueprint will help me to do the work in a proper way. Chapter II deals with the negative aspect of Locke's theory of knowledge. At the introduction of this chapter, two different forms of the theory have been elucidated. Alongside this, two different types of innate principles have been discussed. The central theme of this chapter is to demonstrate Locke's refutation of innate principles. The negative or destructive side of his theory of knowledge concentrates on the refutation of the theory of innate knowledge. But his primary goal was to attack not conceptual but propositional innatism. On the one hand, he put forward arguments in order to nullify the hypothesis of innate principles; on the other, he attempted to establish the view that our mind is similar to a white paper at the time of birth. However, this chapter mainly focuses on Locke's refutation of innate principles. The intent behind his refutation of the theory of innate knowledge is to clear the path in order to establish his empiricism. Before and during Locke it was speculated that there are certain ideas that God has imprinted in the mind at the time of birth. Besides, the Scholastic philosophers supposed that all knowledge is based on certain innate maxims. Locke challenged this standpoint. In fact, He was seeking to adopt a new critical approach towards the acquisition of all kinds of knowledge. Moreover, he was inclined to found religion and morality on reason. During and before Locke, the doctrine of innate knowledge was considered to be necessary for religion and morality. He sought to replace the old foundation of innate ideas with suitable arguments so that religion and morality would stand stronger than earlier. Next, we have investigated the reason for his refutation of innate principles. The fundamental interest of Locke was to challenge the foundation of the doctrine of innatism. He believed that if it could be shown empirically unfounded then it would no longer be possible to use it as an epistemological instrument to support obscurity as well as intellectual oppression. Most importantly, he wanted to eradicate this obstacle in order to establish his doctrine of empiricism. In addition to that, an attempt has been made to enumerate the contestants of Locke. There is a divergence of opinion among scholars regarding the opponents of Locke. Usually, it is conceived that Descartes and the Cartesians were his principal adversaries in this epistemological debate. But his polemic was not against any particular opinion rather it was directed against a widespread view. The subsequent portion of this chapter attempted to illustrate at length Locke's arguments against innate principles and also the counterarguments put forward by different scholars from different angles. Actually, this portion sought to capture as well as present the debate between Locke and the innatists in a holistic manner. In Chapter III, my main aim is to outline Locke’s theory of knowledge, i. e. the positive side of his theory. In the first section, I mainly dealt with the development of Locke’s idea of knowledge. Here I have shown how Locke established his theory of knowledge and what are the main factors for the possibility of knowledge. In this chapter, I have illustrated some indispensable concepts that helped Locke to set his epistemological viewpoints, under the umbrella of empiricism, such as ideas, qualities, modes, substances, relations, etc. In the second section, I illustrated Locke’s theory of representationalism. Here I have also shown how Locke tries to establish his representative theory of knowledge by applying his empiricist style. The final section is my concluding section, and here I have tried to explain different shortcomings of Locke’s theory of knowledge that occur from lack of attention and insufficient explanations (of the concepts of primary and secondary qualities, and the concept of reflection), given by Locke. In the concluding remark, I have suggested that if Locke paid attention to the nature of ideas, qualities, and also to the human understanding, then he could have solved most of the shortcomings of his theory of knowledge. In chapter IV, my main aim is to outline Locke’s classification of knowledge. And in this regard, I have shown that Locke classifies his theory of knowledge based on what we can know, and how we can know. In the first section of this chapter, I mainly deal with what we can know according to Locke. Here I have illustrated the Lockean definition of knowledge. And different kinds of agreement between ideas of objects, which help us to understand what we can know. Here I also have mentioned some objections raised against the classification of the agreement of ideas. Afterward, in the second section, I have spread light on the Lockean conception of how we can know. Here I have shown the Lockean classification of knowledge based on different degrees of clarity. In this section, I also have shown some shortcomings regarding Locke’s conception of Demonstrative and Sensitive knowledge. And the final section is my concluding section, where I have discussed the deficiencies that arise in Locke’s theory of knowledge. Here I have also shown that though Locke tries his best to set his theory of knowledge based on empiricist style but at the end of the inquiry, he was unable to hold this position properly. In chapter V my main aim is to spread light on Locke’s conception of truth. Here I have mainly shown the possibility of truth in terms of Locke’s theory of knowledge. In the first section of this chapter, I have stated how Locke established his theory of truth in terms of his theory of knowledge. Afterward, in the second section, I discussed Locke’s conception of truth in detail, with classifications. After this, in the third section, I have spread light on the criteria through which Locke classifies his theory of truth. And finally, the fourth section is my concluding section where I have illustrated different shortcomings regarding the theory of truth, which mainly arises out of the weaknesses of the theory of knowledge. I proceeded as per the blueprint stated above. The concluding chapter gives a critical summary of his (Locke’s) theory of knowledge. To my mind, Locke with his espousal of empiricist epistemology did a wonderful task which we must appreciate. But it is also right that his empiricism was impure empiricism as he admitted some of the things which are not in consonance with empiricists’ tenets. Later philosophers Bishop Berkeley and David Hume tried to purge these drawbacks. Locke perhaps could not foresee the radical implications of empiricism. These implications became evident in Hume’s philosophy as we find that it leads to scepticism. There is no gainsaying the fact that Locke’s theory of knowledge in particular and his philosophy in general left seminal contributions. As we find that later philosophers drew spirit from him in some way or other. It would not be an overstatement perhaps to state that even the critical philosophy that Immanuel Kant espoused, later on, had its seed latent in Locke’s philosophy. We find a number of similarities between these two great philosophers’ viewpoints.
Open Access
Meaning of Human Life: Some Reflections
(University of North Bengal, 2023) Bhowmick, Madhurima; Basak, Jyotish Chandra
The present work entitled “Meaning of Human Life: Some Reflections” is divided into six chapters. The meaning of life is a question that has troubled the human mind since its emergence and the genesis of its reflective capacity. Not only that it is the only kind of being in the world that asks such questions. Other beings do not ask such questions or at least we are not aware of that. This question has been called by many the final or ultimate question of life. In order to study this question, I have taken recourse to literature survey, field study and eliciting opinions of experts. In the first chapter titled “Introductory Remarks” I have introduced the problem. The problem under discussion is an age-old one. In India, considered as the most ancient extant civilization in the world, this question was given prime importance and attempts were made to address it directly. Mostly, attempts revolved around showing what is the final goal of life. The concept of puruṣārtha was used for furnishing an answer to our question. It has been said that any work that is conducive to the attainment of our desired puruṣārtha is worthy one and it imparts meaning to our lives. In the west, the extant literature tells us that it was Socrates, the great Greek philosopher, who first provides us with an answer by saying that an unexamined life is not worth living. Not only that his method, known as the Socratic method, an art of questioning everything, tried to find the rationale for our every work. It was actually an effort to find the meaning of all our moves in life. Successive philosophers after him tried to formulate and reformulate the question and attempted answers in their own way. In the contemporary period, analytic philosophers whose main tool of philosophizing was hair-splitting analysis of every concept helped immensely to analyse the question. They were under the impression that a better formulation of the question will facilitate a better response. They show us that every word of the question― ‘the’ ’meaning’, ‘of’, ‘human’, ‘life’― needs to be clarified first. Once we get a precise idea of all these words it will go a long way in understanding the question. We can say that their task was like a grammarian. Their task was second-order. But they did a yeomen task by reminding us that without proper clarification any attempt to furnish an answer is bound to be a half-hearted one. I have attempted an analysis of these words in the first chapter. A survey of the literature gave me the impression that answers to our enquiry can be given from a number of perspectives. When we come to know about these perspectives, we get confused as we fail to determine which one is the right answer. Determination of the right answer to such an enquiry is not possible, to my mind. However, traversing these different lines of thinking is indeed rewarding. Hence, I handpicked three different lines of thought whose lines of thinking influenced later philosophers/scholars. One of them was a pessimist, Arthur Schopenhauer, the next one was Richard Taylor, a critical thinker and finally, I discussed the view of Viktor E. Frankl, a psychiatrist and a survivor of the Nazi concentration camp. I did this to illustrate that scholars with a particular background are committed to a specific line of thought. I also attempted to elicit the opinion of people who are not associated with the discipline of philosophy. I talked with research scholars from other departments, and elicited opinions of people who are in distress (for example, people residing in old age homes) and also some professors engaged in teaching at different universities. This attempt also provided me with some clues to think over the issue. Chapter II is written under the rubric of “Meaning of Life: Viewpoints of Some Major Classical Western Philosophers”. In this chapter, I chose some Greek philosophers who made a ground-breaking contribution to the issue. They are: Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Epicurus, Diogenes, a cynic, and Sextus Empiricus, a sceptic. I have deliberately chosen these philosophers. Socrates first articulated the question and brought the issue to the forefront of discussion in the western world. Plato made an original contribution by enunciating his view in a more precise way. Aristotle was the first philosopher, and it has been held by many scholars, who addressed the question most systemically unknown before his time. He, for example, showed us that the question has two aspects―theoretical and practical. Hence, any answer which does not address these two sides is bound to be an inadequate one. In the previous chapter I have shown that the term ‘meaning,’ as it has many meanings, in the present case it has been used in the sense of goal or purpose. Greek philosophers tell us that it is eudaimonia or happiness that is the goal of life. But the moot question is what is happiness. Raising this question, they dug deeper into the problem. What is usually thought as happiness may not be real happiness. Epicurus showed us very clearly what happiness is. It is a particular state of body and soul, e. g. absence of pain in the body and of trouble in the soul. By showing that all pleasures are not pleasurable, and all pains are not painful he subtly introduced qualitative hedonism. Aristotle very meticulously defined the notion of life. By doing this he not only clarified the question rather he pioneered the advent of biological sciences. He very beautifully showed that life is a continuum. Doigenes, another Greek thinker, spent a life which attracted the attention of his many contemporaries. His lifestyle and views instantiated a different line of thinking. Sextus Empiricus did a great task by espousing a sceptical line of thinking. Scepticism has a great role in philosophy as it impels us to be critical and not to hold a dogmatic view on any issue. Any dogmatic view of life’s meaning has the capacity iv to lead us astray. Hence, a critical outlook is a sine qua non. All these issues were part of my second chapter. The last century witnessed the triumph of reason. Logic, rational arguments, realism, etc. were buzzwords of philosophers of that century. It is during this time that analytic philosophy took its birth and logical analysis came into vogue. Philosophers used it very craftily to resolve philosophical problems. The meaning was a dominant theme of this school of thinking. We are habituated to thinking that when analytic philosophers talk about meaning their focal points are the semantical and the syntactical sides of the issue. This is true. However, no intellectual can ignore the question with which we are dealing. Hence, analytic philosophers either directly or indirectly attempted to answer the question. I have shown this in chapter III. To limit our discussion, I have chosen three prominent philosophers of the last century who left indelible marks in different fields of thinking and activities. They are Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein and A. J. Ayer. Bertrand Russell was a renowned British philosopher and activist. Though he adopted a naturalist line of thinking, he proferred some opinions on this issue which are indeed enlightening. As his writings are vast we selected certain books and essays and delineated his views on the basis of views given in those pieces of writing. Ludwig Wittgenstein, an Austrian-born British philosopher, initially treated the question under discussion, as nonsense about which we are not in a position to say anything. In spite of saying this, he held the issue/question has merit and made ingenious attempts to answer the question. Peter Hacker beautifully showed that though no answer can be furnished, according to Wittgenstein, to the question of the meaning of life and hence makes no sense still such type of non-sense is different from misleading non-sense. He, therefore, labelled it ‘illuminating non-sense.’ A. J Ayer, known as the spokesperson of the logical positivist, initially held that answer to such a question does not fall within the domain of philosophy. He held so as he clearly stated the task of philosophy in his celebrated book Language, Truth and Logic. His hard stance on ethics and religion etc. was the result of his affiliation with rigorous empiricism and logical analysis. By making a distinction between the how question and the why question he illuminated our thinking on the issue. Still, he held some sort of opinion which is really interesting. For example, we find him saying that though life has no independent meaning still someone can give it meaning through his activities. He claims himself to be a humanist. Perhaps this terminology gives us enough hints about how he tried to give meaning to his life. A later revision of his view given at the fag end of his life is intriguing and we have discussed it in chapter III. Chapter IV deals with some existential philosophers’ viewpoints. When the English-speaking world was putting emphasis on reason, some other parts of Europe put a premium on passion and emotion and relegated reason to the back-burner. Crises faced by the world during two devastating wars and their sequel accentuated the issue and popularized existential philosophy. Absurdity, anxiety, fear, nothingness, being, thrownness, fallenness, facticity, choice, etc. were their main jargon. Out of many existential philosophers I have chosen Soren Kierkegaard, Fredrich Nietzsche, Martin Heidegger, and Jean-Paul Sartre. These philosophers repeatedly showed the existential crisis faced by humanity and their main slogan was ‘existence precedes essence.’ The Kierkegaardian concern centres around how to live a life. For him, truth is subjective. As he emphasized on the subjectivity of truth, he was concerned about “what is truth ‘for me’”. He found the answer in living a religious life. For this, he was willing to live and die. Existential philosophers can be grouped under two umbrellas―theists and atheists. We have seen Kierkegaard’s stance. He was a theist. On the other hand Fredrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre were atheists. They also espoused existentialist ideas though of a different sort. Hence, their answer varied about life’s meaning. Martin Heidegger, a doyen of this school of thought, gave a highly original philosophy. The meaning of life questions dominated his entire philosophical journey. For him, philosophical enquiry focuses on understanding language and life. Such engagement provides us with the experience of Being. His Being and Time is a tome where human beings’ choices and actions have been given paramount importance. One being’s choice is dissimilar to other beings. Therefore, their meaning of life will also vary. Dissimilarity does not prove wrongness. To the question of what makes life meaningful, he gives several answers. Some such answers are: care gives the meaning of life, time brings the meaning of life and authenticity imparts the meaning of life. These words, although frequently used in ordinary discourse, Heidegger used these in a technical sense. Most existentialist philosophers hold that Authenticity makes our life meaningful. In chapter V I have discussed how Indian philosophy attempts to answer the question about the meaning of life. I have discussed the concept of puruṣārtha. Ancient and classical Indian philosophy discussed the meaning of life in terms of puruṣārtha. There are many puruṣārthas out of which four got prominence. If our activities propel us towards our supreme goal then those activities are considered as worthy or śreyo. Indian philosophy does not repose faith in pleasurable life. They rather focus on the attainment of a life where suffering is completely absent. Whether such life is ānanda svarupa or not is a debatable issue. However, it is usually held that it is a blissful life. Contemporary Indian philosophers tried to justify this line of thinking, of course, in their own way. This is not to say that they held this view dogmatically. Rather they supported it with independent reasoning. Here we find a reasoned combination of tradition and ratiocination. Out of many contemporary Indian philosophers I have chosen Rabindranath Tagore’s and Krishna Chandra Bhattacharyya’s views. Chapter VI, which is my concluding chapter, begins with Walt Whitman’s ‘Song of Myself’ where he beautifully depicts human beings’ differences from other animals. It is only human beings who can raise certain questions. Enquiry into the meaning of life is such an issue. It has intrigued the human mind to such an extent that they took recourse to many routes to have a satisfactory answer to this question. Will Durant in order to get an answer to this question wrote a long letter to 100 persons who have many accomplishments to their credit. A study of their answers made me feel that it is worth traversing but at the same time made the thing more intricate. Some held life has no meaning, some argued on the theistic line, and some answered in an unconventional way. All these answers made me pensive. The appearance of a pandemic and on account of which a serious danger loomed large over the globe, I got the impression that I have been thrown into a world which is dreadful and any search for meaning is a meaningless task. However, Viktor Frankl’s view and our successful fight against the pandemic restore my conviction that life has a meaning if we can give it one. We need to create meaning for our own life. Meaning, therefore, seems to be a subjective one. While I was mulling over this idea during my pre-submission seminar, I was reminded by a professor of mine that I need to rethink the issue. He made me think that human life’s goal is objective though roads leading to that may be subjective. I concluded my thesis with this view.
Open Access
Language, Speech and Communication: A Critical Study
(University of North Bengal, 2022) Deb Barman Sushabhan; Joardar Koushik; Ghosh Manjulika
In the present Ph.D. Dissertation, Language, Speech and Communication: A Critical Study, an attempt is made to elucidate the nature of the concepts of language, speech and communication and probe into their interrelations. The present work proposes to dislodge the problems of language, speech and communication from the confines of communication theory in behavioral sciences, linguistics (transformational grammar) and management studies, and situate it in the center stage of philosophy. This work contains the following six chapters: Chapter I: Introduction, Chapter II: Nature of Language, Chapter III: Nature of Communication, Chapter IV: Language and Speech with Special Reference to J.L. Austin’s Theory of Speech Acts, Chapter V: Communication of Religious Experience and Communication in Art, Chapter VI: Concluding Remarks. Language has been a subject of study by philosophers, linguists, grammarians, communication theorists and literary persons besides others. Language has been broadly defined as an abstract system of symbol – words, phrases, idioms etc. and the modes of their combination, i.e., the grammar of the language. Language remains abstract until it is used in concrete situations of speaking and writing and its symbols become vocal or written signals. Originally, the symbols of language have their meanings given to them by their users and are arbitrarily assigned. That means, regularity of use and the acceptance of that use by the users in a community fixes the meaning. For instance, the English word ‘dog’ does not in any way, physically, resemble the animal it stands for. It is by virtue of shared acceptance and use by a community of users, following certain conventions that the word ‘dog’ stands for or means the animal. And, indeed, other languages have different names for dog, for example, Spanish ‘perro’, Russian ‘sobaka’, Japanese ‘inu’, etc. Meaning is an abstraction from the concrete. An understanding of language must take into account its semantic, syntactic and pragmatic dimensions. The semantics of language connects linguistic symbols with aspects of the world. Reference, meaning, relation between language and the world, language and thought – all these issues belong to the semantics of a particular language. Here, the terms, ‘refer’, ‘reference’, and ‘referent’ are used for all of the semantically significant relations between linguistic units and what they are used to talk about. {William Alston, “Reference and Meaning” in Prospects for Meaning, (Richard Schantz, ed.), De Gruyter, 2021, p.35}. Syntax deals with structural relationships amongst the linguistic items of a sentence or between sentences. Syntax is a part of grammar and it overlaps with the concerns of linguistics, formal philosophy and logic. {Rudolf Carnap, The Logical Syntax of Language, Amethea Smeaton (Eng.tr.), New York: Harcourt Brace, 1980}. Another aspect of language is pragmatics. Here, language is an analysis of speech acts in which speakers and hearers determine the context-and-use-dependent utterance meaning. {Speech Act Theory and Pragmatics, J.R. Searle, F. Kiefer, and M. Bierwisch (eds.), Dordrecht, Holland, 1980, Introduction}. If from the question: What language is? we come to the question: What is the function of language? our answer would be that language is a system of representations. That language represents reality is a very common observation. The symbols of language connect us with aspects of the world. It is doubtful if there could be such a thing as an extra-linguistic reality, a reality external to us, without language. Language is cognitive in the sense that it is a reliable tool for acquiring beliefs and knowledge about the world or checking the reliability of our beliefs by testing them against facts of the world. However, besides the descriptive, designative or representational functions, language has an expressive function as in art, literature, religion and in other cultural phenomena. The descriptive, designative or representational function of language connects us with objects and facts in the world. When we experience an object in the world, we form an idea or representation of it and give it a name, such as, ‘a book’ or ‘a table’. We, however, do not keep this information about the world to ourselves. We share the information about the world with others. Language is essentially public. We share our perceptions, beliefs about the world with others. And herein comes the question of communication. Language is the principle means used by human beings to communicate with one another. It is only as an aspect of a greater and ongoing communicative community that ‘the subject can enjoy the world at all.’ Communication through language is essentially a human phenomenon and distinguishes men from animals. Keeping this in mind, we have criticized the views of behavioristic theories of communication advanced by Leonard Bloomfield and B.F. Skinner. (Leonard Bloomfield, An Introduction to the Study of Language, London, 1935, B.F. Skinner, The Behavior of Organisms, New York: Appleton Century-Crofts Inc., 1938.). Language enables us to reflect, plan and engage in agency, not only reactive behavior. Deterministic behavior must be inadequate to understand human action and communication. Human communication is an example which draws on the background resources of language. Communication is the interplay between intention and interpretation. The speaker intends to communicate something to the hearer. The hearer by his act of interpretation would respond to the speaker’s intention. Thus, the speaker’s intention and the hearer’s response contribute to a communicative event. However, the listener has no license to suggest or bestow any interpretation on the speaker’s intention. The speaker and the hearer should share the same semantical field so that their interlocutions have a common reference. In the context of communication, it is the meaning of what is communicated that is of consequence. It is the meaning which is communicated or not communicated; it is the meaning which is understood or not understood. Communication through language is made possible through different channels. Yet, communication through the spoken word in a face-to-face situation is the basis for all communicational transactions. In the light of this, it may be urged that no discussion of communication can be complete without its relationship to speech. Hence, we need to look into the relationship between communication and speech. Gilbert Ryle in his symposium paper, “Use, Usage and Meaning” has made the significant remark that “We do not often mention as such the sentences that people produce. We speak instead of their allegations, complaints, promises, verdicts, requests, witticisms, confessions and commands.” (Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volume 35, 1961, p.262). This observation of Ryle is pertinent to understand J.L. Austin’s theory of speech acts, put forth in his William James Lectures, delivered at the Harvard University in 1955 and post-humously published in his engaging work, How to Do Things with Words {J.O. Urmson (ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1962}. Austin, who initially made the distinction between performative sentences, which are a species of doings and constatives, sentences which are a species of saying what is true or false, gradually abandoned this distinction in favour of a general theory of three-tiered – locutionary, illocutionary and perlocutionary speech acts. According to Austin, the means of accomplishing the speech acts are certain conventions, non-compliance to which makes the act infelicitous. Much debate has ensued since, in respect of the conventionality of acts, the relation between these acts as well as about the communicative dimension of illocutionary acts – the so-called “force” of the illocutionary acts which secures “uptake” or what the speaker intends and the hearer understands. Strawson, following Grice’s view (G.P. Grice, “Meaning”, Philosophical Review, Vol.66, 1957) that ordinary communication takes place not directly by means of conventions but in virtue of a speaker’s having certain intentions and getting the hearer to recognize such intentions, argues that the illocutionary acts , mentioned by Austin, are highly ritualistic or ceremonial, indeed, involve conventions, but our ordinary communicative behaviour, the acts, succeed by Gricean intentions – the hearer’s awareness of the speaker’s intention to achieve a certain communicative goal.{ P.F. Strawson, “Intention and Convention in Speech Acts” in The Philosophy of Language, J.R. Searle (ed.), London: Oxford University Press, 1971.}We have tried to defend Austin against Strawson’s criticism. Austin’s account of speech acts has influenced its further analysis by Searle, who, while not denying the Gricean intentions in communication, argues that communication is also a matter of convention – the conventional association between the acts and its socially determined consequences, the rules determining the elements of the uttered sentence. Austin’s theory has proved fruitful in endangering further deliberations. Besides Searle, we have also noted the alignment of Jürgen Habermas’ theory of communicative action to Austin’s theory of speech acts. We have also delved into a phenomenological understanding of it. In Chapter V, we have made an attempt to show if and how communication is possible of religious experience and in art. The project ends with a summary statement of what we have tried to investigate and our findings. We have stated our anxiety relating to the survival of ordinary, human language, speech and communication in view of the rapid encroachment of artificial language in the human space. The work encloses a comprehensive bibliography
Open Access
Reality of the concept of motion : East-West dialogue
(University of North Bengal, 2013) Chattopadhyay, Sudipta; Chakrabarti, Bhaswati B.
Open Access
Deconstructing the Concept of Body: A Critical study
(University of North Bengal, 2022) Basak, Priyanka; Saha, Debika
Open Access
Problem of meaning : a fregean account
(University of North Bengal, 2022-08) Sarkar, Reshmee; Das, Kantilal
Open Access
Non-violent society: A quest
(University of North Bengal, 2015-10) Paswan, Krishna; Joardar, Koushik
Open Access
Relation between ethics of duty and ethics of virtue : a critical study
(University of North Bengal, 2022) Sahabuddin Ahamed Jamader; Padhi, Laxmikanta

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