Man Education and Values

There is a time in the life of man when he becomes acutely aware of the human predicament. He then asks himself: What is Man? This question is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. Different philosophers have offered different answer to this enternal question. The author of this book, Dr. V. Narayan Karan Reddy, Head of the Department of Philosophy, Osmania University, has tried to present Man from different points of view – psychological, axiological, teleological and spiritual. He examines and highlights the delineations of the meanings of Man, the origin of Man, the future of Man and the purpose of Man as problems of enternal significance. He presents the Unified Theory of Man “based on new hope the faith”, which can save man from his present crisis. Dr. Reddy has a special chapter; ‘Tagore on Man’. Here we get a deep insight into the significance of the meaning of Man and the perennial problems of philosophy. Man as the totality of the purpose called Reality; Man as the forerunner of the Biological Evolution; Man as the measure of value and as the manifestation of the spirit – these are the themes drawn from Tagore’s writings. Education is another fascinating subject dealt with by Dr. Reddy, particularly the contributions of Tagore, Gandhi and Aurobindo. The creative, ideal of Tagore’s Vishwabharati and the “education of the whole man” finds an echo in the ancient Indian system of education, wherein the accent was on the growth of spiritual consciousness. The last subject discussed by the author is the problem of values. He goes into the meaning of values, as norms, standards, goals and purposes, with their realistic, pragmatic and integral interpretations. Tagore, on Values as a medium of spiritual realization, is full of mystical significance. He takes us into the realms of “expansion of consciousness”, “self-enlargement of personality” and “transvaluation of values”.