The Biography of Famous Personalities of India will tell you about the controversies, the dark sides of a person that you may have never heard of.
Dr.Radhakrishnan’s Views On Religion, Philosophy and Political Thought
Radhakrishnan’s Views On Religion And Philosophy
For Dr. Radhakrishnan, religion was philosophy and philosophy was religion. He studied various religions and systems of philosophy and presented to the world the religion behind all religions and the common philosophy behind all philosophies through his book. He presented a broader view of religion and asserted that ethics were an integral part of religion. True religion never asked us to hate other human beings.
All human being belonged to the same family and if one believed in this oneness, there would never be any war and social equality would prevail everywhere. This was the essence of all writings of Dr. Radhakrishnan. He regarded religion as the binding force which helped in restoring the lost relationship between individuals. He hated that religion which was being mixed up with magic, witchcraft and superstition. He had sympathetic view towards other religions and beliefs.
In the same way, he claimed that the main aim of philosophy was to raise a man above worldliness. He said, ” ……………….. If properly pursued, it (Philosophy) arms us against failure against sorrow and calamity, against boredom and discouragement.” Dr. Radhakrishnan was, no doubt, an adventurous philosopher. He gave importance to rationality and doubt. He never defended his religion but always supported the spirit which was immune to all religions.
Thus he combined philosophy and religion by saying, “We become more religious in proportion to our readiness to doubt and not our willingness to believe…. It is essential that we should subject religious beliefs to the scrutiny of reason.” It is clear that Dr. Radhakrishnan’s interest was only in the philosophy of religion and only philosophical and religious studies formed the core of Dr. Rahakrishnan’s life. His opinion was that the mankind should develop common spiritual outlook by religion. This common spirit could help in the survival of civilization.
Dr.Radhakrishnan’s Political Thought
Dr. Radhakrishnan’s approach to politics was that of a rationalist. He looked at politics through religion and regarded democracy as the highest religion as it guaranteed liberty of thoughts and freedom of conscience to every citizen. He said,” I am a great believer in democracy, not because it is a fine political arrangement but because it is the highest religion.” He asserted that freedom of the individual should never be suppressed. In a society, the individual should be able to develop his mind and spirit and this was possible only when there was democracy in the country.
Even while he was in power politics, he never bowed in front of narrow-minded politicians and always expressed his faith in the people of India. He had no hard political intelligence and had never developed any political philosophy but gave utmost importance to individual liberty. He always worked for economic betterment and equality in social status. He also had a great admiration for Mahatma Gandhi’s concept of Satyagraha. Thus he gave true meaning to democracy by asserting that “Democracy was more than a system of government, it was a way of life.”
India would always remember this man who was a religious philosopher and rose to occupy the highest office of the country and proved to be the greatest administrator. He lived his life fully and at many levels and he was, no doubt, the most variously gifted Indian of his time.