Primacy of contingency is the key

from Tusar N. Mohapatra tusarnmohapatra@gmail.com date 19 February 2010 14:04

Thanks for your appreciative and encouraging words. By saying, “I may not be able to reach the goal in my life time,” you might have preferred to stick to an ethical line, but the luxury of an absolute ethics is not available to us human beings; at least, no such example is there either in history or mythology. The best compromise the tradition offers is the higher dharma taking precedence over the lower. This also is not as simple as it sounds, for the ranking is purely a subjective affair tethered as it is to one’s self-interest and self-protection.  

Philosophical writings, both in the east as well as the west, are replete with explications on the question of individual vs. society that remain unresolved to this day. But one thing agreed upon generally is that a single rule can never be valid for all people in all situations. Therefore, the primacy of the contingency becomes the key and holds promise. What you label as realpolitik operates by latching on to that faint ray of hope. The butterfly, after all, is a transformed caterpillar. [TNM]