Enlightenment and modernity
AAKASH SINGH RATHORE
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A retrospect after two centuries of Immanuel Kant on his philosophy in a world disenchanted with modernity
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Essays on the Philosophy of Immanuel Kant — Reason, Morality, and Beauty; Terror, Peace, and Universalism: Bindu Puri and Heiko Sievers-Editors, Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jaisingh Road, New Delhi-110001. Rs. 495 each.
Some 200 years ago in Germany, the philosopher Immanuel Kant breathed his last— at least his body did. His spirit, on the contrary, was only just beginning to insinuate itself into nearly every crook of every literate culture on the globe.
In celebration of these 200 years of Immanuel Kant, Oxford University Press has released two companion volumes on myriad aspects of his thought. Both the books are edited by Bindu Puri and Heiko Sievers and contain essays not only by Indian and German scholars, but also of Finnish, Portuguese, Greek, Indonesian, Chilean, British, Turkish and Chinese contributors. In this respect, these volumes truly illustrate the reach of Kant's influence the world over.
Moral philosophy
Each volume carves out a domain for itself: one is titled `Reason, Morality, and Beauty', and treats primarily Kant's moral philosophy along with a brief foray into his neglected but important work `Religion Within the Bounds of Reason Alone', and two articles on his aesthetics. This volume is preceded by a foreword by the distinguished moral philosopher Mrinal Miri, wherein Miri juxtaposes the spirit of Kant's moral philosophy with what is salient in wider contemporary reflection. The other is titled `Terror, Peace, and Universalism', and provides different takes on Kant's well-known work, `The Idea of a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Intent', along with two essays delving into particular issues related to Transcendental Deduction from Kant's critical philosophy. This volume is preceded by a foreword by the legal and political philosopher Otfried Hoeffe.
We may highlight that the audience addressed does not appear to be a strictly academic one, and the books are clearly not just targeted to stodgy philosophers. Indeed, the novelty of the book covers already attests to this. There are, of course, semi-technical papers included, but in the main the authors presuppose little from their readers - other than intelligence.
Philosophy of art
Turning to the work, in `Reason, Morality, and Beauty', both Sharad Deshpande and Bindu Puri reconsider Kant's universalistic and purist morality in the light of the particularistic and ego-centred ethics of the Aristotelian tradition. Jonathan Dancy explores in greater depth the significance of this universality, while Xie Dikun traces the fate of Kant's requirement of purity in later philosophy. Real issues of genuine significance are addressed, such as the nature of morality - why, indeed, should we be moral at all? - and the importance of passion, friendship, and education.
The nature of the self and autonomy are also delved into in various ways by Goutam Biswas, who brings Emmanuel Levinas into the discussion, Goenawan Mohamad, who reflects on these integrally Kantian issues in relation to Sayyd Qutb's Islamic Revivalism, A. Raghuramaraju, who takes to task the idea of providing Indian remedies to western problems, and Bijoy Boruah.
Shifting from morality to aesthetics, in his compelling paper `Kant, Adorno, and the Dynamics of Artistic Appearing', Martin Seel lays a foundation stone for a bridge to reunite aesthetics (which prioritises the sensuous or retinal aspect of art) with the philosophy of art (which undermines sensuousness by favouring the contemplative end of artistic experience). Although one might remark that Seel pays too little attention to Hegel - who by defining art as "the Idea in sensuous form" had already found a workable alternative - he has masterfully applied the phenomenology of (aesthetic) perception to this classic dispute.
Variety of approaches
In `Terror, Peace, and Universalism', an even greater variety of approaches are encountered than in the Morality volume. This medley can be illustrated through the first three papers, on terrorism and war: in the first, S.C Daniel argues that terrorism is in contravention of Kant's categorical imperative, since people are used merely as a means to the terrorist's ends; in the second, Sujata Miri attempts to show the fundamental harmony between Kantian ethics and the terrorist weltanschauung - for, if people can never be a means only, then Kant must categorically prohibit not just terrorism but war; in the third paper, on just war, Ashok Vohra mediates the first two, showing the necessary preconditions for war to be justified, or in other words, for using people as a means. This volume, therefore, makes for lively reading, and fruitfully brings Kantian ideas to bear on topics of contemporary consequence.
Amidst all this praise for the volumes' content, their formal side warrants a critical remark: OUP, as a leading global publisher, commands a premium price; we readers, then, expect that their releases be flawlessly proofed and printed.
In this case, at Rs. 990 for the set of books totalling only 375 pages, the publisher has not performed at the level expected from them. Readers are well compensated, however, by the genuine efforts of the contributors and their excellent papers.
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