The Issue of Determinism and Freedom as an Existential Question: A Case in the Bhagavad Gītā

Abstract

A reading of the Bhagavad Gītā is proposed here that shows a new way of formulating the philosophical issue of determinism and freedom, that is, not as a moral but as an existential question. To do so we first briefly draw upon the American philosopher Stanley Cavell's practice of ordinary language philosophy as a conceptual bridge to the ancient text. This leads to a revised notion of freedom, not as "self-determination" in a Kantian sense but as "existential achievement," which can be described as a form of autonomy in the sense of becoming what you are or having the will to be responsible to yourself.

Bhagavad Gita and Hindu modes of capitalist accumulation in India

“…Anderson (2012) criticised Sen but argued that Gita is a significant source of moral reasoning. Kwak and Han (2013) locate philosophical significance to understand the existential issue of (in) compatibility between determinism and freedom in Gita for the question of moral agency. For Rarick and Nickerson (2009), Gita offers lessons of managerial consciousness for humanistic and inclusive leadership 2 .…”