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pose any realistic system of philosophy. To Vedanta he presents a challenge based not on any lack of sympathy with its ideals or any positivistic denial of metaphysical reality but simply on a demand that, if it wishes to justify itself, it must be actually what it always claims to be, rational.
7.
D. M. Datta.
I will conclude by considering two philosophers, D. M. Datta and R. D. Ranade, who are outstanding for their contributions not only to the intellectual but also to the spiritual life of India. In India, which has no dominant religion or organized Church, a spiritual teacher teaches on his own authority, and he may also be a philosopher.
Dhirendra Mohan Datta, a Bengali Hindu, was born in 1898, and educated at Dacca and Calcutta. After graduating from college, he had a P. R. Scholarship, with a simultaneous teaching position, and continued his studies both with pandits and with professors, including K. C. Bhattacharya. In 1921 he abandoned his academic career to follow Gandhi, and after training at Gandhi's ashram devoted himself to social and educational work, teaching spinning, and establishing girls' schools. When poor health forced him to abandon this, he returned to academic life, and for 25 years was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Patna. He attended the East-West Philosophy Conference at Honolulu in 1949, and in 1951-1952 was visiting professor at Wisconsin and Minnesota. In 1953, having reached the retiring age of 55, he retired to Santiniketan.
Although Professor Datta's teachings and writings are substantial, and his scholarship and philosophical acumen are considerable, his greatest influence has been through his personality. Cautious and slow in thought, speech, and action, with selfconscious but genuine humility, he shows moral power rather than dialectical subtlety. His gentleness, enthusiasm, and Gandhilike personality make him universally loved by those who know him, and his friends and colleagues profit both from his example and from his wise counsel.
His books represent a variety of interests. The Six Ways of
