World of Philosophy

Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan

Page 636

Krishnachandra, a “positive mode of freedom of the subject to relate to object without getting related to it." The freedom of the subject lies precisely in the fact that it is known by itself and mat in relating to the object, it does not get related to the latter. Such type of freedom of the subject is a matter of immediate certainty to Krishnachandra. It might be suggested that the position is paradoxical, for if A relates itself to B (freely may be) it cannot but get related to B. To Krishnchandra, this does not pose a paradox. The subject has an immediate feeling of relating itself to the object without having a feeling of getting related to it. A free reference of the subject to the object might mean (i) free reference of the subject to the object: in the objective attitude or (ii) free reference of the subject to the subject as object. It means free reference of the subject to the object in the subjective attitude. In the former, the subject relates itself to the object freely without itself getting related to it. The subject is aware of his experiences and thoughts of the object without in any way identifying himself with them. This may be called knowledge in the objective attitude. The object of this knowledge may be either a physical fact or psychic fact. It may be a psychic fact because a psychic fact is not purely a mental event, but always an aspect of the object. The object has certain modes of relatedness, to the subject, e.g., knownness, feltness etc. This relatedness viewed as a character of the object is a psychic fact. This knowledge may be called "awareness through psychological introspection in the objective attitude."
It is necessary at this stage to refer to Krishnachandra's theory of introspection. Gopinath Bhattacharya observes, "Introspection is usually taken to be internal perception or the non-inferential awareness of a mental fact, and so far as its character of immediacy is concerned, it is placed on a par with the sense perception of the physical object”?2 It is quite pertinent to distinguish “psychological introspection” from “spiritual introspection”. Spiritual introspection consists in distinguishing the functions of knowing etc., as other than the character of knownness etc. A function like knowing represents a mode of freedom from the psychic fact of knownness. To Krishnachandra, the consciousness of modes of freedom like knowing is as direct as that of a psychic fact like knownness. This spiritual introspection is explained as the enjoying understanding of the subject or the T. Here introspection is awareness in the subjective attitude. Krishnachandra is quite definite that "introspection proper is a form of theoretic consciousness that implies an abjuration of the objective attitude."13
According to Krishnachandra, spiritual introspection is the introspection proper. It is an awareness in the subjective attitude. In other
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