JOSE
NANDHIKKARA
Dharmaram
Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore
Paper Title: “Religion – Private
Vis-A-Vis Public Philosophical Investigations after Wittgenstein.”
Abstract
Wittgenstein made the
remark, “Make sure that your religion is a matter between you and God only,”
during a discussion with student and friend M. O’C Drury. Following Wittgenstein’s later remarks on private
language, I would like to argue that attempts to keep religion only in the
private sphere – “a matter between you and God only” – is neither desirable nor
possible. It is tempting to posit a gulf between religious belief and following
a religion – to consider the former as private. Dissolving of the chimera of
private religion is important because modernity, secularism and liberal
democracy would prefer to keep religion in the private sphere, maintaining a
divide between state and religious institutions. Religion, however, is very
alive in the public sphere and there is greater influence of religion in the
politics.
Wittgenstein’s
investigations into meaning and use, and rules and rule-following help us to
clarify the nature of this apparent gap. In making religious claims believers
adopt personal attitudes to the world, community, and God. Religion and life
are inseparable, for a believer; it shows the basic character and spirit of
believers’ living. Religion is a fundamental human way of living in the world
in relation to fellow human beings and God; it also shows who we are and how we
ought to live. In the Indian context, religion is active in the social and
political life of the nation. Caste system, uniform civil code, marriage and
family laws are contested zones where the interface of religion and politics is
debated. Secularism need not be interpreted anti-religious or a-religious; with
dialogue and fellowship in religious experience (FIRE) we shall cultivate an
attitude of respecting all religions and make use of religions as agents
promoting harmony of life locally, nationally and globally.
Dr. Jose Nandhikkara CMI, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at Dharmaram Vidya
Kshetram, Bangalore, holds a Licentiate in Philosophy from Gregorian
University, Rome, MA in Philosophy and Theology from Oxford University, and a
Ph.D. in Philosophy from Warwick University, UK. He is a specialist in
Wittgensteinian thoughts. He is also the director of the Centre for the Study
of World Religions, DVK, Bangalore and the Chief Editor of the Journal of
Dharma.