Department of Philosophy

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The Department of Philosophy, University of North Bengal has been awarded Special Assistance by UGC to carry on research on ‘The Problem of Meaning in Classical Indian Philosophy and Contemporary Western Philosophy’ including translation of Sanskrit texts into regional language.
Department of Philosophy, North Bengal University, Siliguri, is one of the very accomplished centers of learning and research in Philosophy. Siliguri is surrounded by four countries and the nearest Bagdogra airport is five KM, and the New Jalpaiguri railway station is 18 KM away from University campus. We pride ourselves in being a department where equal emphasis is placed on quality research as well as on development and training of students through teaching/learning and extensive teacher-student interaction.

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Author: search.filters.author.Ghosh, Swagata

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Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Justice and punishment: a critical study on the ethics of kautilyan daṇḍanīti
    (University of North Bengal, 2024-03) Ghosh, Swagata
    In Kautilya’s Arthaśāstra, the third and the fourth adhikaraṇa deal specifically with the law and order of his administrative theory. The third adhikaraṇa is known as dharmasthīya, concerning the judiciary and the officials, while the fourth adhikaraṇa is referred to as kantakasodhana, that is, repression of criminals. Kautilya subscribed to a theory of the maintenance of law and order by the government through punishment, referred to as daṇḍanīti. His penal system is based on a complex interplay between monetary and physical punishments. The combination of monetary penalties and corporeal punishments speak of a certain balance that is much necessary to execute convicts of various forms and strata. The implementation of exemplary punishments, including capital punishment speak of the fact that justice has to be restored by any means, even it be by instilling fear in the minds of the people. This might raise the issue of using the offender as the means to keep the society disciplined. Further, and the most important feature of Kautilya’s system of justice is that the King and the concerned officials are trained in ānvīkṣikī (the science of logic and enquiries into truth), based on dharma, that is, righteousness. Thus, Kautilya, one of the greatest visionary of statecraft and politics of all times, successfully establishes a code of law for the commoners, as well as the powerholders, that ensure the repression of crime as far as practicable, and accordingly, the maintenance of a just state.
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    Notion of bondage and liberation in sāṁkhya Philosophy:a critical study
    (University of North Bengal, 2022-03) Ghosh, Swagata
    Among the Indian philosophical system, Sāṁkhya philosophy represents one of the oldest traditions. Like the other orthodox schools of Indian philosophy, the Sāṁkhya system too considers liberation to be the highest goal of human life. According to the Sāṁkhya philosophers, though liberation is nothing but the absolute cessation of the three-fold sufferings, yet it can only be attained through the realisation of the discriminatory knowledge (vivekajñāna) between the puruṣa and the prakṛti. We know that the relation of mere contiguity (sannidhāna) between the puruṣa and the prakṛti, as admitted in Sāṁkhya philosophy, leads to the accomplishment of the bhoga and the kaivalya of puruṣa (being or embodied consciousness) in the apparent state of migration (saṁsāra). In the process of the phenomenal enjoyment and liberation through transcendence of the empirical, the assistance of the evolutes of prakṛti is required; hence their manifestation. In Sāṁkhya philosophy, we know that the puruṣa conceives of the modes of the antaḥkaraṇa to be its own, and accordingly the I-usages of the embodied consciousness occur. However, the Sāṁkhya śāstra being essentially an esoteric study of liberation, the focal issue lies in the ascertainment of the nature and the possibility of liberation of puruṣa through the attainment of the discriminatory cognition between itself and the prakṛti. In Sāṁkhya philosophy, puruṣa is essentially and eternally free (nityamukta). Evidently, the issue arises that how can we consider the possibility of liberation of the everliberated puruṣa? Further, how at all can the question of bondage arise in case of the unbound, immutable, unrelated puruṣa? Moreover, if at all any such bondages are to be admitted due to the apparent related-ness between the puruṣa and the prakṛti due to their proximity, what could be the nature of such bondages?Such critical issues and the related concerns regarding the emancipation from such bondages are the moot points of discussion and analysis in the current research paper. We now enter into the detailed critical analysis and exposition of the issues stated above following the respective Sāṁkhyakārikās. In this context various arguments from the position of the Neo-Sāṁkhya tradition as well as from Yoga and Buddhist philosophies, have been put forward wherever those have been found to be relevant.
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    Contrast Between The Natures Of The Binary In Sāṁkhya Philosophy: Some Observations
    (University of North Bengal, 2021-03) Ghosh, Swagata
    The Sāṁkhya philosophy is one of the most ancient traditions of the Indian philosophical system. Like the other orthodox schools of philosophy in the Indian tradition, the Sāṁkhya system too considers liberation to be the highest goal of human life. According to the Sāṁkhya philosophers, liberation being identical to the absolute cessation of sufferings, can only be attained through the discriminatory knowledge (vivekajñāna) between the puruṣa and the prakṛti....
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    Empathic Communication: A New Paradigm to the Problem of Knowing Other Minds
    (University of North Bengal, 2015-03) Ghosh, Swagata
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    Spirit of Man: Reflections on Sri Aurobindo and Tagore’s Views
    (University of North Bengal, 2014-03) Ghosh, Swagata
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    The Relation between Puruׅsa and Prakׅriti: a Critical Analysis
    (University of North Bengal, 2012-03) Ghosh, Swagata