RECENTLY, I WENT TO MUDHOL in Karnataka to inaugurate the annual conference of Chintana Siri. When I was requested to inaugurate, I was surprised that Mudhol, the hub of enterprising sugarcane farmers, has chosen to start a platform on a subject with philosophical underpinnings. However, the reasons are not far to seek. It was the effort of Vasanna Desai, who contributed to the development in the area through his innovative approach of socio-political sensitisation of people. Unfortunately, he did not live long enough to reach the State legislature or Parliament to offer his ideas on a larger scale. While thinking about what to speak, I wondered: if Chintan is what people in Mudhol want, why not have Chintan on Chintan? This provoked me to look to epistemological concepts of thinking, thoughts, and knowledge to promote inquisitiveness and Socratic questioning among people. The reason for provocation is that inquisitiveness and questioning have taken a back seat due to the simplistic and attractive nature of the information available on fingertips. Even though unverified, when the information is available on social media, it naturally attracts readers. To my surprise, the large gathering of more than a thousand people, who were predominantly literate farmers, listened to my speech with rapt attention. Some of my friends who thought philosophical discourse might not help in holding the attention of people in rural areas were quite surprised. Let me recapitulate (with some improvisation) in this piece what I spoke at Chintana Siri in Mudhol. .Even though unverified, when the information is available on social media, it naturally attracts readers. .Thinking, thoughts, and knowledge At the outset, it is necessary to explain philosophical concepts before appealing to inquisitive thinking and Socratic questioning of who, where, how, and why. Firstly, thinking is a cognitive exercise involving decision-making. Secondly, thought is an idea, concept, or image generated by such thinking. However, knowledge goes beyond thinking and thoughts. Knowledge that is a true thought or belief is knowledge alone. Ideas generated in the mind have to be thoughtfully believed before concluded as true or false. If it is true, the idea will qualify as knowledge. However, the truth as absolute truth is not possible. It measures only as a degree of certainty. .Reading as an antidote to ‘Frustration’: Ambedkar’s thoughts.The transition from idea or thought to knowledge should not be subjective decision-making of oneself, but it must be based on his or her objective test. What one thinks and believes cannot be a piece of knowledge. One’s belief ought to be reason-based, that is, supported by perception, testimony, and reasoning. A justified true belief is alone said to be true knowledge. Of course, the truth is not absolute. The truth is a degree of certainty that varies depending on where we apply and for what purpose. The courts use three methods to test the truth of information: the prima facie test, which is applied while granting interim relief; the probable cause test, which is applied in civil cases; and the test of beyond a reasonable doubt, which is applied in criminal matters while judging the guilt of the accused. Are thoughts real? Are thoughts real? This has assumed importance in the age of Artificial Intelligence, even though it may sound metaphorical. However, when the subject is explored metaphysically and epistemically, there are opposite schools of thought on thoughts. Are thoughts real and part of larger material things, or are thoughts independent of the physical world as projections of the mind? This has been part of the metaphysical discourse for long, beginning from ancient Greek philosophy and Indic philosophy. .The school that hypothesises the first position that thoughts are real and are a part of matter is known as the materialist school. The second view that thoughts are not real but only a projection of the mind and stand apart from the physical world is known as the idealist school. The third view is dualism, which does not separate thoughts from the physical world. While countering materialists, dualists ask - “If thoughts are material things, why can’t machines think? Why can’t AI take over the thought industry and go on developing new thoughts without human intervention? The debate about whether thoughts are real has even attracted social scientists because of the challenges posed by the internet and smartphones in creating a high level of group consciousness on political issues, such as MAGA in the USA, the Third Rome in Russia, the Islamic Caliphate in the Middle East or the Akhand Bharat in India. If thoughts are not real and the mind is not a part of the material world, the political constructs are temporary and may disappear sooner or later to some new political constructs spun by wise men.Socratic questioning It is generally thought that questioning is an interrogative tool in linguistics to seek answers. But, if we go deep, it is much more in a philosophical sense. Greek philosopher Socrates advocated for questioning as a tool for acquiring knowledge. The French philosopher, Jean Descartes, said, “Doubt is the origin of knowledge. If you do not doubt and question, there is no knowledge because the information that you receive will remain untested or unverified. Descartes' Cartesian method involved questioning everything one believes to be true, including sensory perception and logical reasoning. The questions, therefore, play an important role in acquiring and expanding knowledge. The questioning prompts inquisitiveness and critical thinking. Economist Amartya Sen rightly says Indians are traditionally argumentative. When this is so, nurturing this trait more and more, keeping with the demands of modern society, is important to face the challenges posed by the information war on social media, which is threatening to take India backward. .Economist Amartya Sen rightly says Indians are traditionally argumentative. When this is so, nurturing this trait more and more, keeping with the demands of modern society, is important..Even in education, questioning is the key to learning. We must always cultivate the habit in children of asking questions. The reading of books by kids is not going to help them learn. Tell them to take a chapter and ask simple questions: what, where, why, and how. With this simple probe, the whole thought in the chapter enters the mind and settles down logically to be retrieved when the question comes in the examination. God, religion and critical thinking If justified thought or belief alone qualifies as a piece of knowledge, is God outside the scope of human knowledge? Because God is not provable by evidence and reasoning? The faith in God is said to be a faith which is outside the realm of human knowledge because God is not cognisable by humans through sensory perception or reasoning. What is not falsifiable or what is not testable and provable is not knowledge, said German Philosopher Karl Popper. Despite a larger question of whether God is only a faith as a projection of the mind of believers, religious practices and rituals practised by humans appealing to God should be tested on rationality. This is necessary to align the practices and rituals with the demands of modern society. Thomas Aquinas spoke for the rationalisation of Christianity. Vivekananda pleaded for freeing Hinduism from irrational practices. Hope the religious pandits will address this to keep the institution of religion relevant to the masses in modern society. Constitution of India mandates reason-based decisions The Indian Constitution in Article 19(1)(a) guarantees freedom of speech and in Article 51A(h) imposes a duty on citizens to cultivate scientific temper and spirit of inquiry to acquire reason-based knowledge. However, the Constitution, in Articles 25 and 26 protects the right to faith in God by religious method and spirituality. .The constitutional conception of socialism: A vision beyond welfare State.If these provisions have to be harmoniously constructed in the backdrop of the moral consciousness of the Constitution, the resulting conclusion is that faith in God, religion, and spirituality is a matter of personal choice. However, in matters concerning society, the decisions of any decision-maker: politicians, bureaucrats, or judges, ought to be based on scientific evidence and reasoning. Transparent and reason-based decisions are the bedrock of democracy. If the decisions are based on something other than reason and scientific evidence, then the Government becomes a theocracy. We must appeal to the people to adopt a scientific temper, reason-based thinking, and the art of Socratic questioning. Indians are said to be argumentative by tradition. The traditional argumentative trait of Indians needs to be revived and further nurtured for the progressive and scientific growth of India into a developed nation. We must practice questioning the unscientific and irrational practices even while exercising the personal right to spirituality. The practice of questioning the government of the day is necessary to keep democracy alive and to protect our own valuable guaranteed human rights.
