Guest post by SASHEEJ HEGDE

Don’t ask for the meaning, ask what’s the point. (Ian Hacking).

Nizar Ahmed, Metaphysics and the Politics of Compassion: An Indian Perspective (Kozhikode, Kerala: InsightinPublica Printers and Publishers Pvt. Ltd., 2023, pp.93, Rs.300/-).  [ISBN – 978-93-5517-340-9]

1. Introduction

It is no easy task to resist such a forceful and persuasive intervention in a genuinely problematic area of metaphysics and the emotions, as it were, complicated furthermore by the fact that it strives to articulate ‘an Indian perspective’ on the same. The work, emanating from a reclusive philosopher from Kerala and published by a ‘small’ publishing house in the region, requires some attention, yet – and, I attempt to do so without coming across, hopefully, as condescending, or even paternalistic. I must confess, though, that the author Nizar Ahmed (henceforth, NA) is a dear friend for many years now, indeed from the time of his Ph.D. in Philosophy from IIT-Kanpur and taking up a faculty position in the School of Social Sciences at Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam (from where he moved to the Sree Shankaracharya University of Sanskrit at Kalady, Kerala, and retiring eventually from that posting).  Dare I say it, NA remains a ‘legend’ in critical circles in Kerala, although he actively resists the attention that his work (both in English, and even more in Malayalam) commands.

Continue reading Is the ‘Politics’ of Compassion Transcendental? Sasheej Hegde →