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1

Toward a Critique of Nationalism as a Theory of the Nation-State

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Ghosh M.
Dialogue and Universalism
|
2019
|
issue 1
57-66
EN
The concern of this paper is to critique the political conception of nationalism as a theory of the nation-state. The basic point of the critique is that when the interests of the nation and the principles of the state coincide there emerges a fierce sense of national identity which endangers moral indifference to outsiders, the people within and outside the national boundary, without remorse. Here the attempt to uphold national identity is something more than nationhood. Besides involving territorial identity, common language, custom and culture essential to the idea of a “nation,” it also upholds the consciousness of these as determining separate rights and allegiances, the idea of attachment to a nation and its interests. Such a consciousness can emerge only on the adoption of certain populist ideas such as racism, ethnicity and even such popular elusive myths as the “greatness” of a nation, the urge for the maintenance of “national character,” etc. Such “nationalist xenophobia” leads to the intensification of the distinction between the “own” and the “other,” “national” and the “alien,” the “citizen” and the “migrant” leading to “ethnic disharmony,” “colour bias,” hatred and suspicion of persons with whom one has lived closely as neighbours for decades. The most popular is the economic discourse of the “migrants” putting the “nationals” out of work. All this has its toll on multi-culturalism and humanitarian concerns. Many affluent nations have become cold to human misery, suffering and deaths from wars, terrorism, acute poverty, political persecution, environmental degradation, etc. This has created an “existential” crisis for millions of people on earth. Hence, the paper visualizes that some form of universalism should be revived against extreme individualism of nation-states to envisage the beginning of a new era stronger in the pursuit of justice and more secure in the quest of peace, an era in which nations of the world can prosper and live in harmony. In developing the critique of the nation-state, this paper has dwelt on the views of Rabindranath Tagore on nationalism and those of Hannah Arendt on the fusion of the state and the nation.
2

Portrait of Friendship

100%
Ghosh M.
Dialogue and Universalism
|
2018
|
issue 2
81-97
EN
This paper on friendship starts with noticing the cultural specificities of the words, “friend” and “friendship”: how they possess rich nuances and meanings in some cultures not available in others. It has then delved into Aristotle’s treatment of friendship in his three ethical treatises with special reference to the relationship between friendship and morality and that between friendship and self-knowledge. Some comments are made on whether friendship is possible between persons of unequal virtues and whether they are capable of attaining self-knowledge. This paper also discusses certain challenges to Aristotle’s claims that friendship is an unalloyed good. The point of these challenges is that friendship can also be a great bad. The paper concludes with the observation how rare has friendship become in the modern world resulting in loneliness, depression and alienation.
3

Human Transcendence, Nature and Society

100%
Ghosh M.
Dialogue and Universalism
|
2016
|
issue 1
91-98
EN
Man is a being-in–the-world and at the same time he defies the dictates of nature; he is a being-off-the-world. Man tries to transcend the unconditionally given nature through invention, symbolization, representation and imagination. Man not only be-longs to nature but also intervenes in the processes of nature. Man is duplex. This du-plicity is also species-specific to man and can be termed as human transcendence. This implies not only the transcendence of external nature but also self-transcendence, i.e. transcendence of his ego-self. Self-transcendence not only makes morality possible but is also a the basis of formation of society. Further, it brings about a change in man’s attitude to nature. Nature is not seen purely as an object of utility, but also as a power, a force, having a telos or an end. In clarifying what we want to say, we study the posi-tions of two figures, Friedrich Nietzsche and Rabindranath Tagore. This paper attempts to address the idea of man’s self-transcendence and its bearing on harmonious living with other individuals and with nature.
4

Autonomy of Art and its Value

100%
Ghosh M.
Dialogue and Universalism
|
2017
|
issue 3
39-53
EN
The problem investigated in this paper is that of the value of art in terms of its autonomy. The value of art does not reside in the imitation of life nor does it consist in its representational function. This idea is as old as Plato. Art’s autonomy wherein we locate its value, is actually the autonomy of the artist. The artist is not merely free to choose his subject matter, he is also free to bring about the contrasts and the syntheses among the diverse constituents of the work in a particular medium. Artist’s function in this regard is one of problem-solving. To the aesthetic mind problem solving suggests finding for the line, arrangement of mass, colour, shape, etc., a support which passes through them and goes beyond itself to the less definable. If this autonomy of the artist is compromised, art becomes causally determined and is made to serve some ideological agenda. There are, indeed, great works of art which have inspired the human mind and enabled it to withstand unabashed inhumanity; in which man has taken refuge in suffering and death. It may promote inter-cultural understanding. Yet, the value of art is not to be judged by ends extraneous to it. It is not given antecedently nor is it an established property of things. The value of art is intrinsic to it unfolding the inexhaustibility of the aesthetic spirit.
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