The Inner Dimension of Freedom: A Study of K. C. Bhattacharyya’s Philosophy

Dr. Dayamoy Maji
Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Bankura University
dmphilbku@gmail.com



Submitted on: 15.11.2025
Accepted on: 28.06.2026



Abstract: K. C. Bhattacharyya (1909-1990), an eminent Indian philosopher, demonstrated the importance of human freedom by defining liberty as including not only political and social aspects, but also intellectual, spiritual, and moral ones. This essay examines Bhattacharyya's intellectual contributions to the freedom argument using Indian philosophy, Western existentialism, and contemporary issues of moral choice and autonomy. The writer examined Bhattacharyya's works on consciousness, awareness, moral obligation, and community service and discovered that the philosopher rethinks freedom as a concept that evolves based on moral appraisal and self-reflection. His philosophy differs from positivist and libertarian viewpoints in that he regards freedom as the growth of self-aware, self-reflective, and ethically responsible action. We may observe that Bhattacharyya's theories are still relevant today by considering the philosophical, social, and political issues that compel individuals and groups to accept moral responsibility.

References:

[1] Arendt, H. (1998). The Human Condition (2nd ed.). University of Chicago Press. (Original work published 1958)
[2] Bhattacharyya, K. C. (1907). Studies in Vedantism. University of Calcutta Press.
[3] Bhattacharyya, K. C. (1930). The Subject as Freedom. Indian Institute of Philosophy.
[4] Bhattacharyya, K. C. (1954). Search for the Absolute in Neo-Vedanta. University of Hawaii Press.
[5] Bhattacharyya, K. C. (1956). Studies in Philosophy (Vol. 1). Progressive Publishers.
[6] Fanon, F. (2004). The Wretched of the Earth (R. Philcox, Trans.). Grove Press. (Original work published 1961)
[7] Gandhi, M. K. (1938). Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule. Navajivan Publishing House. (Original work published 1909)
[8] Ganeri, J. (2021). The cosmopolitanism of Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya. Philosophy East and West, 71(3), 567–585. https://doi.org/10.1353/pew.2021.0042
[9] Garfield, J. L. (2014). Solving Kant’s problem: K. C. Bhattacharyya on self-knowledge. Philosophy East and West, 64(1), 107–129. https://doi.org/10.1353/pew.2014.0004
[10] Hegel, G. W. F. (1956). The Philosophy of History (J. Sibree, Trans.). Dover Publications. (Original work published 1837)
[11] Hegel, G. W. F. (1977). Phenomenology of Spirit (A. V. Miller, Trans.). Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1807)
[12] Kant, I. (1997). Critique of Practical Reason (M. Gregor, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1788)
[13] Kant, I. (1998). Critique of Pure Reason (P. Guyer & A. W. Wood, Trans.). Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1781)
[14] Krishna, D. (1997). Indian Philosophy: A Counter Perspective. Oxford University Press.
[15] Locke, J. (1975). An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (P. H. Nidditch, Ed.). Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1690)
[16] Mohanty, J. N. (1992). Reason and Tradition in Indian Thought: An Essay on the Nature of Indian Philosophical Thinking. Clarendon Press.
[17] Mohanty, J. N. (2000). The philosophy of Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya. In Explorations in Philosophy: Indian Philosophy (Vol. 1, pp. 145–162). Oxford University Press.
[18] Mohanty, J. N. (2002). Explorations in Philosophy: Essays by J. N. Mohanty (Vol. 1: Indian philosophy). Oxford University Press.
[19] Raghuramaraju, A. (2006). Debates in Indian Philosophy: Classical, Colonial, and Contemporary. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195672442.001.0001
[20] Raghuramaraju, A. (2011). Enduring Colonialism: Classical Presences and Modern Absences in Indian Philosophy. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198070016.001.0001
[21] Raghuramaraju, A. (2013). Philosophy and India: Ancestors, Outsiders, and Predecessors. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198092230.001.0001
[22] Raghuramaraju, A. (2017). Modern Frames and Premodern Themes in Indian Philosophy: Border, Self and the Singular. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315278452
[23] Raghuramaraju, A. (Ed.). (2023). The Making of Contemporary Indian Philosophy: Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya. Routledge.
[24] Raveh, D., & Coquereau-Saouma, E. (Eds.). (2023). The Making of Contemporary Indian Philosophy: Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003152156
[25] Sarkar, B. (2018). K. C. Bhattacharyya and the politics of swaraj: Rethinking freedom in colonial India. Journal of Indian Philosophy, 46(4), 715–735. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-018-9362-5
[26] Sartre, J.-P. (1956). Being and Nothingness: An Essay on Phenomenological Ontology (H. E. Barnes, Trans.). Philosophical Library. (Original work published 1943)
[27] Sartre, J.-P. (2007). Existentialism Is a Humanism (C. Macomber, Trans.). Yale University Press. (Original work published 1946)
[28] Sen, A. (1999). Development as Freedom. Knopf.
[29] Sinha, D. (2011). K. C. Bhattacharyya’s concept of freedom: A phenomenological approach. Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, 28(2), 1–15.
[30] Verma, A. (2017). Pain and freedom in K. C. Bhattacharyya: A question. Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, 34(3), 451–467. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40961-017-0112-5
[31] Verma, A. (2019). Freedom beyond action: K. C. Bhattacharyya’s critique of will. Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, 36(2), 215–232. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40961-019-00154-3
[32] Verma, A. (2020). Subjectivity and freedom in K. C. Bhattacharyya: Revisiting the grades of freedom. Sophia, 59(3), 537–553. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-020-00772-4
[33] Verma, A. (2024). Inner freedom in the age of AI: Revisiting K. C. Bhattacharyya. Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, 41(1), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40961-024-00325-7

Key Words: Freedom, Social, Political, Ethical, Selfhood.

Download Pdf

How to Cite

APA 7th Edition

Maji, D. (2026). The Inner Dimension of Freedom: A Study of K. C. Bhattacharyya’s Philosophy. Antarvidya, 2(1), 46–55. https://doi.org/10.66182/antarvidya.v2.i1.006.2026

MLA 9th Edition

Maji, Dayamoy. “The Inner Dimension of Freedom: A Study of K. C. Bhattacharyya’s Philosophy.” Antarvidya, vol. 2, no. 1, June 2026, pp. 46–55. https://doi.org/10.66182/antarvidya.v2.i1.006.2026