RESEARCH

Things exist because they do ____________ Debarshi Dey ____________ R eason and reality: these are the two parameters we constantly invoke in our post modern lives to validate and justify all that we think and all that we do. Such is the absolute power of these two concepts on our minds that even our Gods and our innermost dreams have to pass the twin tests: Are they reasonable? Are they realistic? We might use other words in their place: “scientific”, “rational”, “practical”, “pragmatic”, but they all convey the same meaning. In all our experiences, and in all our conscious responses to them, we try to satisfy ourselves that they have the twin blessings of being reasonable and real. When these ideas of reason and reality are of so paramount importance in the way we live our lives, or rather in the way we think and make sense of things that are happening around us, let us ask ourselves: what do these words actually mean? Reality: What is reality? What are the things we consider as real...

T here are people who believe in God. Some believe in gods. Some believe in neither. Some say it is beyond human beings to be able to conclude ever whether God exists or not. This simple monotheist-polytheist-atheist-agnostic classification is as simple as Western philosophy (after the end of the era of Greek thinkers) generally tends to be. The differentiation becomes complicated in India whose philosophy says that to be an atheist is akin to not believing in oneself -- God or no God. Leave aside theology, in simple English, what do you mean when you say, "My spirit is high"? There is another school of thought that says whether God exists or not is a secondary question. There is no harm in trying to be one! Now, this should not be construed as super-ego. The philosophy simply means that when you consider yourself of yesterday, yourself of today and yourself of tomorrow, you see a tremendous process of evolution -- mental evolution especially. For one, you know and can do a ...