The philosophical battle between believers and non-believers continues. Adding a new dimension to this everlasting debate is Haulianlal Guite. Just 29-year-old, the bureaucrat from Rajasthan cadre has dwelt upon the existence of God in his book Confessions of A Dying Mind: The Blind Faith of Atheism.
Himself a believer, Mr Guite questions atheists over their claim that religion and God are matter of faith while atheism is scientific and rationale. He rejects this claim using Kant’s Copernican Revolution, Popper’s falsification and the Duhem-Quine thesis. He argues that there is no sharp distinction between science and religion, and that if anything; atheism itself rests on blind faith.
Before the book hits book stores, Mr Guite spoke to Sanjay Bohra about his love for writing, philosophy and the book.
A lot of bureaucrats are into writing these days. What encouraged you to take up writing?
Becoming an author has been a longstanding dream of mine. In fact, I never imagined myself as a civil servant till I gave the exam in 2010. I had always fancied being a professor in some university churning out new ideas to better the world. But such is life that I became an IAS officer, and I don’t regre it.
Writing is an enduring passion that is so natural. I cannot imagine what I will be without the pen. Inevitably, you can expect more of my books to come!
What used to be a post retirement hobby is now being pursued during the career. How do you find time from your busy schedule?
I won’t say “career” as much as it is a hobby. A hobby that is actively cultivated. Indeed I’m too immersed into governance and too passionate about it to even think of any alternate career. I can no longer imagine my life without civil service.
As for finding the time, this is not at all difficult once you make the commitment. Some officers make time for sports, or pursue other interests. I simply choose to philosophise. As I’m still without any children, this frees up my private hours, which I dedicate to reading, writing and philosophising.
Generally bureaucrats write either memoirs or fiction. Why have you chosen a philosophical book ?
Philosophy is my meat and drink that comes as naturally as breathing. And the God question in particular is an issue I have been struggling with for so long. Because it has always been my dream to be a philosopher, my thoughts on it are bound to appear sooner or later.
There have been great philosophers in history who have dealt with the issue of God’s existence. What new are you offering ?
What’s new in my book is the way I use the philosophies of thinkers as diverse as Kant, Popper and Quine to bear on the God question, in ways that were never done before. The ideas are borrowed but their application to this issue is original.
Tell a little bit about the storyline of your book.
There is an atheistic journalist by the name Albert Dyers. One day he has a roadside accident, which induces a near-death experience. In this state, he meets a person called Walker, who claims to be an angel. Now the question is: Is Dyers’ experience real or illusory; is the angel just a hallucination induced by his dying mind? As the duo explore this question, it soon evolves into the most important of modern queries: Whether modern science has done away with God?
The remainder of the book is an exploration of this question through various philosophical conversations, otherworldly adventures and thought-experiments. And through appeals to the results of science, such as relativity and quantum theories.
Are you trying to establish that religion, which is essentially about faith, and science that is all about fact, can co exist?
Yes. Not only can religion and science coexist, but they are not that different. Any distinction between the two is artificial. But I choose to demonstrate this by appealing to the findings of the sciences themselves, and what the greatest philosophers have theorised about it. I am very careful to ensure that nothing in the book challenges scientific data, and that I take all established scientific theories for granted. I simply interpret these theories in a new light to show how science and religion are not all that different. Even Galileo’s conflict with the Church is seen in a new light and given a far more reasonable interpretation.
You claim to have written the book in a unique way. Could you please explain?
Hundreds of books have been written on God. But these are mostly scholarly treatises not accessible to the lay reader as they tend to be dense, dry and full of jargon. Because I believe the issue is so important that every educated person with an interest must explore it, I decide to write it in a simple language without unnecessary technical terms. Indeed, this was the way Plato himself wrote his timeless dialogues.
The use of the novel format makes it the world’s first philosophical novel ever written about God. I’m not boasting, but it is simply a matter of fact that you will not find a book like this. Anywhere. It is sui generis, one of its kind.
Basically, it seems you want an atheists to start believing in God or supernatural powers. Is that the case?
Not exactly. The book simply shows that atheism is not based on evidence or on science, so it is not a rational position. One can still be an atheist after reading the book. Only, the atheist can no longer claim science or reason to be on his side.
So what is the final verdict?
There is no final verdict in the sense that I do not pretend to know what the ultimate nature is. The investigation is always open and ongoing. To the extent a verdict can be made, it is that, whether one chooses to believe in God’s existence or choose to disbelieve, it is done in faith. Now the religious will have no problem with faith, but the irreligious may!
Keep in mind, however, that this book is only the first move in my game. Two sequels will hopefully follow to complete the project of the Confessions.
You wrote that anyone not familiar with the philosophy will first have to read your chapter “Prefacing Luminaries from History” in order to understand the argument and ideas put forward in the book. What makes you believe that ordinary readers apart from those interested in philosophy will take pains to read the book?
One of the reasons the book is written as a novel is to appeal to a wider, general audience. Jargo ns are kept and explained solely in the lengthy, comprehensive glossary, and the thinkers the book makes used of are accounted for in the preface.
One cannot expect every person to read it. But if someone has an interest in exploring the God question, specially the relationship of science and religion, this book is for him.
Why is your book titled “Confessions of a dying mind”?
Because much of the content is the confessions made by the protagonist after he returns from his near-death experience.
It is further sub-titled “The Blind Faith of Atheism” in allusion to the core contention of the book: atheism does not rest on evidence or science, but on blind faith instead.
