PrōjectBihar

Prof Harvey Mansfield, American political philosopher, prolific writer, thinker and Professor of Government at Harvard University is an important thinker for Indian intellectuals to engage in. HIs latest book "The rise and fall of rational control - The history of modern political philosophy' is a distillation of his work over 4 decades. He traces the evolution of modern political philosophy from the original departure from tradition, honor, virtue, order to politics as the primary means of organizing society. Mansfield’s use of the term ‘rational control’ refers to the phenomenon of using human reason or pushing the limits of science to not merely contemplate or understand the world, but to actively master and engineer it to meet human needs — thereby linking knowledge with power and wealth. In Mansfield’s words, “Rational control from its rise is an idea of the application of reason to revolutionize the life of human beings as individuals and in politics in order to liberate them from the unreason of prejudice, tradition and superstition. This idea was begun and maintained by philosophers and has an internal history of rise and fall from Machiavelli to Nietzsche.” While tracing the political/ philosophical history of the West, Mansfield discusses each successive thinker’s views on science, natural law, and the delimitations and origins of power — in light of their ideas and influence on rational control. This is particularly significant for India as we inherit and inhabit this mental and ideological world that shapes our institutions, even today. @priya_27_ dives deep into the text to give us a fine summary and also put a lens on how it would look different from the perch of Indian Knowledge Systems.