In 2021 the American critical theory journal Episteme published a special issue on the philosophy of Mohan and
Divya Dwivedi.[29]
Philosophical work
Mohan's work shows a new possibility for philosophy which is neither metaphysics nor deconstruction, and its orientation was described as deconstructive materialism.[30] According to
Counter Currents there is “something which can be called a
revolutionary theory, but not under that name” in his work.[31]
His work combines the
formalism and argumentation of
analytic philosophy with the intuitive exegetical style of
continental philosophy.[32] Mohan is credited with having "created a new voice in philosophy" resembling the style of
prophesy.[12] Mohan said that it is possible to practice philosophy without anchoring it to any tradition.[33] He argued that the principle of
reason has an important role in philosophy in spite of the criticisms of it in the 20th century. Reason exceeds mechanical thinking as it has a relation to "the obscure".[34][35] This rethinking of the principle of reason is made possible through interpreting the philosophical tradition of faculties in a new way.[30] His works are opposed to exceptionalist style of thinking, including
state of exception.[36]
This is how this book comes to our attention and contributes to orient us, if I may say so, toward a thought, and even a world, neither humanist nor reduced to suffering in the name of Truth. In the terms of this work: neither metaphysics nor hypophysics.[38]
Rachel Adams and Crain Soudien assert that Mohan's "thought is increasingly becoming one of the most radical and important contributions to the philosophy of the world, today".[39]
Gandhi and Philosophy: On Theological Anti-politics
According to
Jean-Luc NancyGandhi and Philosophy leads to a new orientation outside of the
theological, metaphysical and
nihilistic tendencies in philosophy.
Bernard Stiegler said that this work "give us to reconsider the history of nihilism in the
eschatological contemporaneity and shows its ultimate limits" and offers a new path.[40][41]Gandhi and Philosophy calls this new beginning the anastasis of philosophy.[42]Robert Bernasconi said that the inventiveness and the
constructivism behind the concept of ana-stasis, or the overcoming of stasis, has a relation to the project of re-beginning of philosophy by
Heidegger.[43]
Gandhi and Philosophy proposed that parallel to the metaphysical tendency in philosophy there is hypophysics. Hypophysics is defined as "a conception of
nature as value". Mohan said "This non-philosophical system, which we call hypophysics, is necessarily interesting for philosophy. "[6] The distance from
nature that human beings and natural objects come to have through the effects of technology lessens their value, or brings them closer to
evil. Gandhi's concept of passive force or
nonviolence is an implication of his hypophysical commitment to nature.[44] Livio Boni in Le collectif de pantin noted that the concept of hypophysics is influenced by Kant. Hypophysics enables a rational reading of Gandhi's works to learn from it without falling into the errors of mysticism.[45]
The philosophical direction outside of metaphysics and hypophysics is created through the invention of a new conceptual order. It is meant to enable philosophy to step outside the regime of sign,
signifier, and
text.[42][6] The Book Review said that the philosophical project of Gandhi and Philosophy is to create new evaluative categories, "the authors, in engaging with Gandhi's thought, create their categories, at once descriptive and evaluative" while pointing to the difficulty given by the rigour of a "A seminal if difficult read for those with an appetite for philosophy".[46] Some of the conceptual inventions have been noted to have come from mathematics and biology.[30]
The constructionist tendency of Gandhi and Philosophy places it between the dominant philosophical styles of
continental philosophy and
analytical philosophy.[42] The conclusion of Gandhi and Philosophy emphasizes the construction of a new dimension in philosophy.
Anastasis is the obscure beginning which would gather the
occidental and the
oriental to make of them a
chrysalis and set off the imagos born with their own spans and skies; these skies and the imagos set against them will refuse to trade in orientations; and these skies will be invisible to the departed souls of
Hegel who sought
mercury in the darkest nights.[47]
Mohan's work on Gandhi was criticised from the point of view methodological and stylistic difficulty. Robert Bernasconi noted that Gandhi and Philosophy is a difficult book and it is "not a book that you will understand at first reading".[43] The difficulty due to the constructivist style was noted by other authors as well.[46][42][48]
Gandhi and Philosophy was criticised from the point of view of the recent mounting criticisms of Gandhi in India and internationally. It was said that Gandhi and Philosophy might be exalting Gandhi while being very critical of him at the same time. The ambiguous approach to Gandhi was described in one of the commentaries in
The Indian Express as "Mohan and Dwivedi have done a masterful job of avoiding the binary fork – hagiography or vituperation – as much of Gandhi and hagiography comes from a need to spiritualise Gandhi".[49]
Economic and Political Weekly pointed to Mohan and Dwivedi's participation in the paradigm of "
western philosophy", especially when Gandhi's goal was to create an alternative to
Eurocentrism. EPW said that his work may be of interest only to
continental philosophy as he does not participate in Indic discourses.[50]
Bibliography
Books
Indian Philosophy,Indian Revolution: On Caste and Politics, Divya Dwivedi and Shaj Mohan, edited and annotated by Maël Montévil,
Hurst Publishers, UK, 2024.[51][1]
On Bernard Stiegler: Philosopher of Friendship, Ed.
Jean-Luc Nancy and Shaj Mohan,
Bloomsbury Philosophy, UK, 2024.[52]