Kuruvilla Pandikattu Joseph | |
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 Pandikattu in 2004 | |
| Born | 28 November 1957 Areekara, Kerala, India |
| Other names | Kuruvilla Pandikattu, Kuru Joseph |
| Era | 20th-century philosophy |
| Region | Ethics; Western Philosophy |
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| Doctoral advisor | Emerich Coreth (PhD Philosophy) Lothar Lies (PhD Theology) |
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| Website | kuru |
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Kuruvilla Pandikattu Joseph, SJ, ⓘ (कुरुविला पांडिक्काट्ट or കുരുവിള പാണ്ടിക്കാട്ട്) (born November 28, 1957) is an Indian Jesuit priest. He is Chair Professor of JRD Tata Foundation on Business Ethics at XLRI, Jamshedpur and Professor of Philosophy, Science and Religion at Jnana Deepa, Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Pune, Maharashtra, India.[1] He is also Director of JDV Centre for Science-Religion Studies (JCSR) and Association of Science, Society and Religion (ASSR), Pune.
He has authored/edited 36 books and written more than 160 academic articles. He is also a co-founder and has been a co-publisher of two journals, Jnanadeepa: Pune Journal of Religious Studies[2] and AUC: Asian Journal of Religious Studies.[3] Furthermore, he has organized more than 40 academic conferences. His weekly column on "Contemporary Spirituality" used to appear on Tuesdays in Financial Chronicle for eight years[4] He has been contributing regularly to both academic and popular journals.[5]
He is involved in science-religion dialogue and science-related activities and teaches courses on them as well.[6] His areas of interest (and specialization) include: Science-Religion Dialogue;[7] Philosophical Anthropology (Emerich Coreth); Hermeneutics (Paul Ricœur) and Inter-religious dialogue (Bede Griffiths).
The starting points of Pandikattu's academic research are physics, philosophy (metaphysics) and religion (theology). He became interested in the quest for the unification of the fourfold forces of nature in physics and the hermeneutics of dialogue by Paul Ricoeur.[8] This led him to explore the interpretive and symbolic (or mythic) nature of religious experience and inspired his first doctoral thesis: "Idols to die, so that symbols might live". He traces the idol-symbol tension back to every aspect of human experience.
Evoking the tensional and paradoxical life of human beings, he holds on to a dynamic and humanistic understanding of the human beings, who transcends their own self-understanding and definitions.[9] Human being is the tensional appropriation between the past and the future, the memory and hope, the actual and the potential. It is in this tensional existence that human beings realis their own ever evolving nature, including that of bound freedom[10] and limited relationship. As bound freedom they are finite beings seeking the infinite.[11] Experiencing limited love, they want to widen the horizon of understanding. Based on the concrete experiences of pleasure they are open to the infinite bliss, that remains open and ever elusive.[12]
Thus he concludes that humans are free, to a very limited extent. This limited freedom provides him with the dignity and worth that they possess. They are capable of genuine love,[13] also to a very limited extent, and establishing relationships, in spite of the contrary claims and experiences.
As part of the dynamically tensional existence, human beings are “being-unto-death,” where the possibility of their own impossibility is always at the horizon.[14] At the same time, he is convinced that only "Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live" (Mitch Albom). ' Further, following Michel de Montaigne we may hold that “To philosophize is to learn to die.” So as humans beings we are called to live gratefully and accept death gracefully![15] The paradox of life is when we recognise the depth of life, we also experience the depth of death![16] Further, as human beings we need to take seriously the possibility of our own collective annihilation (Sixth Mass Extinction, Ecological Crises, etc.) or enhancement (Artificial Intelligence, Technological Singularity, Moral Creativity, etc.).[17]
For him, Human life is a dialogical encounter, where we approach the other more and more, but never exhaustively.[18] Ours is always an asymptotic relationship that keeps on growing and does not achieve the fullness. In a dialogical mode, we are in the process, collectively, of realising our own selves. It is a challenging and painstaking process, demanding acceptance (of the past mistakes), forgiveness[19] and readiness to reconcile.[20] Pandikattu considers the dialogical dimension of not only of religions, but also of the human existence. His second doctoral thesis on Bede Griffiths was published under the title"Dialog as Way of Life." He also took up issues in science-religion dialogue, which according to him is "not an option but an obligation" for the very survival of the human species, believing it called for radial commitment. Two main areas of his research are physical immortality[21] and a viable or sustainable lifestyle.[22][23] He is convinced that genuine and painful dialogue is the only way forward for human community.
From such a dialogical aspect the whole reality is dialogical. The infinite or God (also referred to as "The Reality") is our human life's enticing and elusive dimension. God is ever-approachable, but never attainable exhaustively. Like the horizon, which invites and recedes from us, God is always near and far at the same time. He bases this insight on scientific details like the lowest temperature reachable (t →0) and knowing that the beginning of Big Bang (T →0) is like the "horizon"[24] which is never fully attainable.
Pandikattu says that the dialogical reality is relational and at the same time paradoxical. The paradox of love is that when two people, who have accepted their own emptiness and recognize their own nothingness, affirm each other, there emerges authentic love that is infinite. Thus, when one truly looks at reality and accepts its nothingness (even absurdity), there emerge traces of infinity. That is the paradoxical beauty of love and of our existence.[25]
Further, he pleads for a culture of dialogue between traditions, religions, nations and among science and religion. Without such dialogue, our human destiny is threatened. It is very challenging to enter into a dialogue with those who do not want it or are inimical to our world view, he acknowledges. Still he believes that dialogue is the only way of life for contemporary society.[26]
Pandikattu has been actively involved in science-religion dialogue.[27] He is interested in looking at both science and religion critically and creatively,[28] so that they can enrich each other and humanity. In this area he has delivered numerous lectures, written numerous articles and books and organised conferences.[29]
Pandikattu was born in Areekara, Kerala, India[32] He was born to Uthuppan and Mary Joseph.[33] He had his early education at Government LP School, Veliyannoor (1962–65) and St. Rockey's U.P. School,[34] Areekara] (1965–70). Then he pursued his basic studies at Sacred Heart School, Changanassery, Kerala (1970–73), India.
After completing his School Secondary Leaving Certificate (S.S.L.C.) at Changanassery, he left for Guhiajori, Dumka, Bihar (now Jharkhand). Other places of his studies are: St. Xavier's School, Sahibganj (1976–78); Loyola College, Chennai (1978–81); St. Joseph's College, Trichy (1981–83); Jnana Deepa, Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Pune (1983–85), and University of Pune (1988–91).[35]
