| Ramendra Nath | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 30, 1957 Hazaribag, Bihar |
| Occupation | Author, philosopher |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Ethnicity | Indian |
| Alma mater | Patna University |
| Genres | Polemics, essays |
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Professor Ramendra Nath (born Hazaribag, Bihar (now in Jharkhand), May 30, 1957) is an Indian philosopher. Reader and Head of the Department of Philosophy at Patna College, Patna University, where he has taught philosophy since January 13, 1983, and where he won his BA (Hons) in philosophy in 1977, his MA in 1979, his PhD ("The Ethical Philosophy of Bertrand Russell") in 1985 and his DLitt. ("M. N. Roy's New Humanism and Materialism") in 1995, he cites his primary areas of philosophical interest as ethics, social and political philosophy, philosophy of religion; rationalism, humanism and atheism in 20th-century Indian thought; and logic and analytic philosophy. He is founder of the Buddhiwadi Samaj (Rationalist Society), founder-trustee of the Buddhiwadi Foundation and honorary editor of Buddhiwadi (Hindi) and the Buddhiwadi Newsletter. He has written several books and booklets (not listed below) in Hindi, and over 100 articles and papers.
An outspoken atheist, humanist, freethinker and rationalist, Nath has long railed against the unreason and immorality of religion. In his 1993 paper "Why I Am Not a Hindu", inspired by Bertrand Russell's "Why I Am Not a Christian" (which he admired) and Mahatma Gandhi's "Why I Am a Hindu" (with which he disagreed), Nath spoke out strongly against the irrationality and evil of the local faith:
Is there any other religion, which sanctions slavery and untouchability? Is there any other religion in which only persons born in a particular caste (Brahmin) are entitled to become priests?
Slavery is not peculiar to India or to Hinduism, but carrying it to the extremes of untouchability, and granting it divine and religious sanction is peculiar to Hinduism.[1]
Nath rejects the doctrine of the infallibility of the Vedas, varnashram dharma, moksha, karmavada and avatarvada, and advocates in their stead a humanistic secularism based on liberty, equality, fraternity and the inalienable rights of each individual.[1]
He has a wife, Kawaljeet Kaur, whom he married on December 7, 1981, and a daughter, Priya, born September 1, 1984.
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