Why is Aurobindo Ghosh Called the First Modern Philosopher of India?

The article examines the contribution to the formation of modern philosophy in India of the Bengali thinker Aurobindo Ghosh (1872–1950), whom representatives of the current generation of Indian philosophers evaluate in different ways: not only as the country’s first modern philosopher, but also as an “apostle of nationalism” and an extremist, and Western ones say about him as a mystic. All these assessments have their reasons. The author of the article traced these foundations in the facts of Aurobindo’s biography, and in the statements of Aurobindo himself in his two books “The Ideal of Human Unity” and “The Human Cycle”, as well as in his unpublished article “The New Nationalism” and notes to his biographies. All of it are included in his Collected works in 36-volumes, the last volumes of which are being prepared for publication now. The materials studied make it possible to reconstruct the portrait of the thinker who, having started with a passion for Western ideas and values, returned to the spiritual values of Indian culture on a new theoretical level. Based on his own synthesis of the achievements of Western and Indian thought, he redefined the meaning of human life in a global perspective. The arguments for this meaning became the consideration of world history, in which different forms of communities were formed: family, tribe, class, city-state, nation, empire, etc. The meaning seen by Aurobindo excludes extremism as a form of violence; it presupposes trust in the Divine Absolute, which, according to Ghosh, is worshipped in all regions of the world. The Absolute, called Nature in the books reviewed, has its own plan for humanity as a whole. This plan is beyond rational understanding, but it must be boon to humanity. Aurobindo’s contribution to the transition of Indian philosophy to the modern philosophical discourse (the introduction of new concepts: evolution, reason, nation, nationalism, etc., and new methodological tools – in particular, historico-comparative and hypothetico-inductive methods, open truth) confirm his high status as the first modern philosopher of India. The article examines the contribution to the formation of modern philosophy in India of the Bengali thinker Aurobindo Ghosh (1872–1950), whom representatives of the current generation of Indian philosophers evaluate in different ways: not only as the country’s first modern philosopher, but also as an “apostle of nationalism” and an extremist, and Western ones say about him as a mystic. All these assessments have their reasons. The author of the article traced these foundations in the facts of Aurobindo’s biography, and in the statements of Aurobindo himself in his two books “The Ideal of Human Unity” and “The Human Cycle”, as well as in his unpublished article “The New Nationalism” and notes to his biographies. All of it are included in his Collected works in 36-volumes, the last volumes of which are being prepared for publication now. The materials studied make it possible to reconstruct the portrait of the thinker who, having started with a passion for Western ideas and values, returned to the spiritual values of Indian culture on a new theoretical level. Based on his own synthesis of the achievements of Western and Indian thought, he redefined the meaning of human life in a global perspective. The arguments for this meaning became the consideration of world history, in which different forms of communities were formed: family, tribe, class, city-state, nation, empire, etc. The meaning seen by Aurobindo excludes extremism as a form of violence; it presupposes trust in the Divine Absolute, which, according to Ghosh, is worshipped in all regions of the world. The Absolute, called Nature in the books reviewed, has its own plan for humanity as a whole. This plan is beyond rational understanding, but it must be boon to humanity. Aurobindo’s contribution to the transition of Indian philosophy to the modern philosophical discourse (the introduction of new concepts: evolution, reason, nation, nationalism, etc., and new methodological tools – in particular, historico-comparative and hypothetico-inductive methods, open truth) confirm his high status as the first modern philosopher of India.