Can we ever be free from the so called proverbial bondage of labor ? Maybe there is a way or maybe not. For writers, writing comes within the purview of unfathomable pleasure. But when it comes to work that is not related to literature, then the bondage of labor becomes much more overt. For the last few weeks I’ve been rather busy with refresher courses and in the process (though I was well acquainted with him earlier), I came more in contact with the works of Johan Galtung, For the uninformed, Johan Vincent Galtung is a Norwegian sociologist who is the principal founder of the discipline of peace and conflict studies. He was the main founder of the Peace Research Institute Oslo in 1959 and served as its first director until 1970. What interested me about his theory and approach towards the world is his focus on violence (he classified the same into direct, structural and cultural violence) and the means of acquiring positive peace.
I do not wish to wax eloquent upon peace studies as anyone can simply Google about the same and understand the intricate details of the theory. However, what I wish to focus upon is that during the course of my above-mentioned course I realized that two most important thinkers who are in probability extremely important today are Immanuel Kant and Johan Galtung. For those uninformed, Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher and one of the central Enlightenment thinkers. Kant’s comprehensive and systematic works in epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and aesthetics have made him one of the most influential figures in modern Western philosophy. He has been called the “father of modern ethics”, “father of modern aesthetics” and, by bringing together rationalism and empiricism, the “father of modern philosophy.”
Today we live in an age where violence is glorified and the state machinery believes in domination more than in plurality. At least that is what we find quite frequently in case of most so called “democracies” including mt home country, India. However, having said that, I still believe that countering violence with violence can lead to nothing except more bloodshed. It is here that concepts of positive peace and pure reason and ethics play a major role. All said and done, somewhere, between the blurred lines of literature and academics, my writings somewhere strike a chord with the thoughts of these two thinkers.
So much for now. Til I scribble next time. Au revoir !
The fact that you hold dear the intention of creating Peace and then write—as a novelist and poet—as an artist, your work naturally infuses peace into the world. This, I believe, is what artists do best—bring Peace and thereby relieve suffering for some. Whenever any of us read your blog posts, we are uplifted by the essence of your words which is the Peace you love. All you must do to accomplish what you desire is let others read what you write. It is a candle, lit.
Thank you so much for your eternal kind words. You have indeed become an inspiration for struggling writers like me to look up to 🙂 Do continue writing your books and we the readers will always be following your posts with utmost eagerness 🙂