Russell's Reception in India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15173/jhap.v16i4.5890Abstract
Bertrand Russell is perhaps one of the most important philosophers whose recognition travels far beyond the community of professional philosophers. India did not escape his attention. Many Indians were eager to know his views about the events that colonial India lived through. With scores of conflicting ideas about the correct course of the Indian freedom movement and the response of the colonial power (sometimes brutal) to the Indian unrest, distinguished Indians such as Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar looked to Russell’s views on these matters. In the present paper, I would like to present Russell’s response to a number of events that colonial India experienced and his view on the search for a uniquely Indian identity entertained by many leaders of the freedom movement. Due to the exposure of many of the Indian philosophers to British analytic philosophy, Russell, needless to say, was a great influence on many of them. Russell’s celebrated works on logic and philosophy of language were discussed by Indian philosophers such as Pranab Kumar Sen and Madhucchanda Sen with great attention and scrutiny. The present paper also articulates some of these Indian responses to Russell’s philosophy.
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