Ramakrishna Mission General Library

The anthology Alternative Standpoints: A Tribute to Kalidas Bhattacharyya is a tribute to Prof. Kalidas Bhattacharyya, the eminent thinker of twentieth-century India, on his birth centenary by his students. A distinguished philosopher and an academician, Prof. Bhattacharyya presented philosophy in an original way with scientific spirit. He was essentially a metaphysician and his metaphysics was deeply rooted in the traditions of Advaita Vedanta and Saivism. His ultimate concern was to present a theory of freedom and a theory of the possibility of realizing that freedom.

In this collection eminent scholars have written on different aspects of his philosophy. This anthology is divided into four parts—the first one concentrating on his metaphysics, the second part dealing with his views on freedom, the third one with education and science and the fourth one is a reminiscence of his student and his family members. In short this anthology tries to present a picture of Kalidas Bhattacharyya as a philosopher and also as a man within the two covers.

This volume is expected to familiarize students and present-day philosophers the persona of Prof. Bhattacharyya and his philosophical positioning and pedagogical skillset.