Mind-Matter Divide

RANJIT NAIR





The root formulation of Indian philosophy goes back to Dirghatamas, the Rig Vedic philosopher, who said, `ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti', or the Real is one, though the wise speak of it variously . Philosophy in India emerged as a rational, discursive exercise when orthodoxy , which regarded the Vedas as revelation, was challenged by major schools like that of Buddhism, Jainism, the Ajivika and the Lokayata.The origins of western philosophy are usually attributed to Plato challenging the gods of Homer for their all-too-human behaviour, substituting in their place truths established through dialectical argument. Indian philosophy arose against the demand that claims on the veracity of a text or principle should be subjected to the canons of argumentation. The schools of logic emerged out of the attempt to formalise rational debate, to distinguish between valid arguments and fallacies.
Indian philosophy and modern science share common features, at the level of parallels, isomorphic themes and problems. The search for unity resonates with the holy grail of the theory of everything in theoretical physics, which began with Albert Einstein. The search for a fundamental theory , Steven Weinberg says, lifts human life above the level of farce and gives it some of the grace of tragedy .
However, the application of quantum theory runs against the Cartesian grain of disenchanting the material world. It unifies East and West, mind and matter.