The divergence of disciplines and their utter failure to converge to a spire of wisdom from where man can contemplate the world, himself and the destiny of both, and the aggressive denial of all values by a reductionist scientism have contributed to the steady diminishment of man and brough him to the brink of annihilation in nuclear holocaust or ecological attrition. Formidable as the task is, if man and his values are to survive, there is no other option but to attempt a other option but to attempt a concept-by-concept reconstruction of the foundations of certitude, This is what Krishna Chaitanya has attempted in his pentalogy on the philosophy of freedom.
In The Physics and Chemistry of Freedom, he showed that self-determination is an intrinsic property of matter even at the paticle level, by revealing the implications of quantum physics. The Biology of Freedom revealed the enhancement of the capacity for self-determination. The Psychology of Freedom answered the creeds that deny the mind, or reduce it to a mechanism, or regard it as a mask worn by the irrational. The Sociology of Freedom examined the conditions for the fulfilment of freedom and the realization of values in group living.
And now, in Freedom and Transcendence. Krishna Chaitanya explores the intimations from the beginnings world, of history, which may be relevant for man’s self-fulfilment in history. The threads of reconstructive reasoning from all the previous volumes are gathered up here to weave a net of meaning which can capture an insight that may yet redeem a fast disintegrating world.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Krishna Chaitanya
Krishna Chaitanya whom Edward Goldsmith, leading international campaigner on environment and winner of the Alternative Nobel Prize refers to in his book, The Way : An Ecological World View, as "possibly the greatest polymath of all time" and the national media have rated as "one of the most original thinkers of the twentieth century" (Hindustan Times), "our nearest approximation to the Renaissance Man" (Indian Express), a writer who has made "singular contribution to the advancement of thought, art and science in our times" (Times of India) and as "one of the most prolific and luminous intellects of our times" (Economic Times), has written over forty books outline summaries of all of which are available in Krishna Chaitanya a Profile and Selected Papers edited by Suguna Ramachandran (Konark, 1991 ). The main categories are : A five-volume philosophy of freedom which critics have compared to the works of St. Thomas Aquinas, the French Encyclopedists, Herbert Spencer, Bergson, Whitehead and Teilhard de Chardin; a ten-volume history of world literature; Indological works including a book on Indian culture, a history of Sanskrit literature, a literary study of the Mahabharata the most comprehensive book so far on Sanskrit poetics and a translation and commentary of the Gita; and books on Indian art. He got the "Critic of Ideas" award of-the Institute of International Education, New York in 1964, the Jawaharlal Nehru Fellowship in 1978, Honorary Membership of the International Cultural, society of Korea, Seoul in 1982, D. Litt. (Honoris Causa) of the Rabindrabharati University in 1986, the Padma Shri in 1992 and the Kalidasa award of the International Institute of Indian Studies, Ottawa in 1993.
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