POSITIVE PHILOSOPHY FOR CONTEMPORARY INDIAN SOCIETY
Desh Raj Sirswal
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Ó Desh Raj Sirswal 2011
“Knowledge will forever govern ignorance; and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives.” - James Madison
The 21st Century has been acknowledged as the 'Knowledge Century'. Every nation now finds itself operating in an increasingly competitive and globalised environment where the information, infrastructure, research and innovation systems, education and lifelong learning, and regulatory frameworks are crucial variables. In the words of Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, “The time has come to create a second wave of institution building, and of excellence, in the fields of education, research and capability building so that we are better prepared for the 21st Century.” Since India’s independence, there has been a persistent demand on behalf of the country’s intellectuals, expressed in different professional, philosophical and non-philosophical fora, to re-examine both ancient and modern philosophical systems to evaluate them and derive from them new directives for today’s changing conditions and there is a definite impetus and a sense of need towards an independent Indian philosophical identity to reinforce research and philosophical studies in India at different levels.
Each step in the journey of human development adds new bench marks in it. I am working through Society for Positive Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies (SPPIS) Haryana since 2008. For me the meaning of Positive Philosophy is to achieve an intellectual detachment from all philosophical systems, and not only to solve specific philosophical problems, but also to become sensitively aware of what we do when have we philosophized. An Interdisciplinary Study is a field of study that crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought, as new needs and professions have emerged. Originally the term interdisciplinary is applied within education and training pedagogies to describe studies that use methods and insights of several established disciplines or traditional fields of study.
I think that in order to reach at the goal of creating “knowledge society”, the majority of the people in India must be helped to overcome ‘information poverty.’ The deprived peoples be given access to relevant and timely information and knowledge to address the roles they should play in the development process and in our society we are also working to erase information poverty related to philosophy discipline in India. It is painful situation that in India, philosophy is not more than a religious thinking for academic and non academic persons and no clear difference between study and teaching. So we should try to change our mental set and go for its practical implications. This is a reflection of my thoughts which are not complete yet it is my intention to get your response. I will be happy to get your comments, suggestions and will try to improve this work accordingly.
Positive Philosophy for Contemporary Indian Society has three chapters to read i.e. (i) Meaning of Positive Philosophy which deals with the conception of Positive Philosophy and Methodology, (ii) Nature of Philosophy in General which discuss about general conception of philosophy , methods of study and writing philosophy, and (iii) Philosophy of Social Change which discuss the need of Indian Model of Philosophy of Social Change and in the end there is a concluding remarks.
While going through this work, reader should not expect to find any final answer to the problems raised. This is not what philosophy aims at. In our country, there is an urgent need of those peoples who can think positively about humanities and social sciences for the growth of society and can make nation more competent with intellectual development. I would like to thank all friends and members of SPPIS, Haryana for their support and inspirational words.
DESH RAJ SIRSWAL: Assistant Professor (Philosophy), Post Graduate Govt. College for Girls, Sector-11, Chandigarh. He is also Programme Coordinator, Centre for Positive Philosophy and Interdisciplinary Studies (CPPIS), Milestone Education Society (Regd.), Pehowa (Kurukshetra). Associate Member of The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, Washington, D.C.
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