Dipika Bhatia

This paper shall make an attempt to critically reflect on the conceptualization of emotions in the Indian Philosophical systems. To bring out the insight, the paper is divided into three main sections. The first section of the paper entitled ‘The Body-Emotions-Mind Complex and the Question of Self: Understanding the Dualistic Tradition’ will make an analysis of emotions and the mind-body complex vis-à-vis the question of self or consciousness in Indian Philosophy with special reference to the study of Advaita Vedānta and the philosophical position of Upaniṣadic teachings. It will also incorporate the Nyāya account of emotions in the Indian philosophical system. The second section of the paper is entitled as ‘Triguṇa and the Emotional Experience: A Perspective in Sāṃkhya Philosophy’. It will reflect on the systematic presentation of Sāṃkhya philosophical system on account of its relation between the two ontological realities — puruṣa and prakṛti. It is this prakṛti which is constituted of the three guṇas — sattva, rajas and tamas; and therefore is the embodied self having its association with emotions. The third section of the paper entitled ‘Understanding Religious Emotions: Towards a Positive Representation of Emotions in Indian Philosophy’ will make an attempt to critically reflect on the necessary shift required in conceptualizing emotions in the Indian Philosophical systems. That is to say, from a negative connotation of emotions to a more significant positive account of emotions in human-spiritual life. This necessary shift will be directed towards the understanding of Religious Emotions — faith and devotion which can serve as a guiding principle to justify the soteriological approach of Indian Philosophy, i.e. towards pure consciousness. Thereby the paper shall explore the consideration of the relevance of emotions in the Indian Philosophical System.

This paper discusses a central idea of our everyday life—human actions and the role of luck in the moral life. The aim of this paper is to formulate and discuss the problem of moral luck, thereby dealing with the question: ‘what is the status or role of luck in the moral life of an individual?’ Bernard Williams and Thomas Nagel highlight the juxtaposition of the two contradictory terms: ‘Luck’ and ‘Morality’ and used the term ‘moral luck’ which inculcates the view that the factor of luck or fortune can affect the moral worth of an individual. In this context, the paper is specifically concerned with the philosophical problem of moral luck which raises a conceptual tension between morality and responsibility by emphasizing that moral assessment, evaluation and justification of human actions are all subjected to luck. Further, in the light of this philosophical problem, the paper also attempts to postulate a possible moral framework with an aim to analyse and conceptually map the status of the juxtaposition of luck and morality.