Subject as Freedom
A Contemporary Translation
Published on 24. October 2025
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-0-19-780992-1 (ISBN)
Description
Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya (1875-1947) was one of the most prominent philosophers in India in the first half of the 20th century. He was King George Professor of Philosophy at Presidency College in Calcutta. KC Bhattacharyya was a noted Kant scholar, as well as an expert on classical Indian philosophy. His work is inflected by Advaita Vedanta, Nyaya, Samkhya, and Yoga philosophy, as well as by the thought of Kant and Husserl. But above all, it is highly original, responding to ideas raised in these traditions through a profound reflection on the nature of subjectivity.
Subject as Freedom was published in 1930. It is almost universally regarded by those who study modern Indian philosophy as the most important philosophical treatise composed in India during the period of British occupation. It is a meticulous analysis of the structure of human subjectivity. KC Bhattacharyya achieves a remarkable synthesis of neo-Vedantin, Kantian, and Husserlian insights, exploring the role of embodiment, of language, and of introspective consciousness in the achievement of self-knowledge.
KC Bhattacharyya argues that subjectivity itself comprises a hierarchy of grades or levels of self-consciousness, and that each of these constitutes a mode of freedom from objects of knowledge. His analysis anticipates many important ideas that emerged in Europe and the United States through the work of Merleau-Ponty, Wittgenstein, Sellars, and Davidson, and provides insight into the interconnection of these ideas and their role in our understanding of human consciousness.
Despite its importance and reputation, however, this book has been little read and has been under-studied. This is because of KC Bhattacharyya's unusual prose style and vocabulary. The present edition includes both his original text and a translation of that text into more familiar contemporary philosophical English with some explanatory notes and a new introduction. This translation both makes the contents of the text more accessible and provides a guide to reading the original text.
Subject as Freedom was published in 1930. It is almost universally regarded by those who study modern Indian philosophy as the most important philosophical treatise composed in India during the period of British occupation. It is a meticulous analysis of the structure of human subjectivity. KC Bhattacharyya achieves a remarkable synthesis of neo-Vedantin, Kantian, and Husserlian insights, exploring the role of embodiment, of language, and of introspective consciousness in the achievement of self-knowledge.
KC Bhattacharyya argues that subjectivity itself comprises a hierarchy of grades or levels of self-consciousness, and that each of these constitutes a mode of freedom from objects of knowledge. His analysis anticipates many important ideas that emerged in Europe and the United States through the work of Merleau-Ponty, Wittgenstein, Sellars, and Davidson, and provides insight into the interconnection of these ideas and their role in our understanding of human consciousness.
Despite its importance and reputation, however, this book has been little read and has been under-studied. This is because of KC Bhattacharyya's unusual prose style and vocabulary. The present edition includes both his original text and a translation of that text into more familiar contemporary philosophical English with some explanatory notes and a new introduction. This translation both makes the contents of the text more accessible and provides a guide to reading the original text.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 24 mm
Weight
667 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-780992-1 (9780197809921)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
approx. 10/2025
Oxford University Press Inc
€36.00
Not yet published
Persons
Nalini Bhushan taught Philosophy for thirty-four years. She earned her PhD at the University of Michigan and taught at Smith College for her entire career. She has authored and co-authored essays in aesthetics, philosophy of chemistry, philosophy of language, cognitive science, and contemporary Indian philosophy. She has co-authored and co-edited books on Trans-Buddhism, the Philosophy of Chemistry, and contemporary Indian Philosophy.
Jay L. Garfield FAHA taught Philosophy for forty-five years. He earned his PhD at the University of Pittsburgh, and taught at Hampshire College, the University of Tasmania, Smith College, Yale-NUS College, and the Harvard Divinity School. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of 36 books and is author of co-author of over 200 articles, chapters, and reviews. His work addresses topics in Indian philosophy, Buddhist philosophy, Cognitive Science, Ethics, Epistemology, and Logic.
Jay L. Garfield FAHA taught Philosophy for forty-five years. He earned his PhD at the University of Pittsburgh, and taught at Hampshire College, the University of Tasmania, Smith College, Yale-NUS College, and the Harvard Divinity School. He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of 36 books and is author of co-author of over 200 articles, chapters, and reviews. His work addresses topics in Indian philosophy, Buddhist philosophy, Cognitive Science, Ethics, Epistemology, and Logic.
Author
, University of Calcutta.
Translation
Andrew W. Mellon Professor Emerita in the Humanities and Professor Emerita of PhilosophyAndrew W. Mellon Professor Emerita in the Humanities and Professor Emerita of Philosophy, Smith College
Doris Silbert Professor Emeritus in the Humanities and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Buddhist StudiesDoris Silbert Professor Emeritus in the Humanities and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Buddhist Studies, Smith College
Content
Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya's Subject as Freedom: K.C. Bhattacharyya's Subject as Freedom is best understood when it is contextualized between two bookends-an essay he completed in 1925 prior to composing Subject as Freedom, and one he composed in 1936, shortly after completing Subject as Freedom. The first essay helps the reader to understand how K. C. Bhattacharyya understands illusion by exploring in detail the canonical examples
of the rope mistaken for a snake. The second helps the reader to understand the respect in which K. C. Bhattacharyya understands philosophy as a spiritual discipline. For this reason, the introduction focuses not directly on
Subject as Freedom itself, but on the ideas articulated in these two bookend essays. CHAPTER I: The Notion of Subjectivity CHAPTER II: Psychic Fact CHAPTER III: Bodily Subjectivity: The Body as Perceived and Felt CHAPTER IV: Bodily Subjectivity (Contd.): Knowledge of Absence as a Present Fact CHAPTER V: Psychic Subjectivity: The Image CHAPTER VI: Psychic Subjectivity (Contd.): Thought CHAPTER VII: Spiritual Subjectivity: Feeling CHAPTER VIII: Spiritual Subjectivity (Contd.): Introspection CHAPTER IX: Spiritual Subjectivity (Contd.): Beyond Introspection CHAPTER X: The Subject as Freedom
of the rope mistaken for a snake. The second helps the reader to understand the respect in which K. C. Bhattacharyya understands philosophy as a spiritual discipline. For this reason, the introduction focuses not directly on
Subject as Freedom itself, but on the ideas articulated in these two bookend essays. CHAPTER I: The Notion of Subjectivity CHAPTER II: Psychic Fact CHAPTER III: Bodily Subjectivity: The Body as Perceived and Felt CHAPTER IV: Bodily Subjectivity (Contd.): Knowledge of Absence as a Present Fact CHAPTER V: Psychic Subjectivity: The Image CHAPTER VI: Psychic Subjectivity (Contd.): Thought CHAPTER VII: Spiritual Subjectivity: Feeling CHAPTER VIII: Spiritual Subjectivity (Contd.): Introspection CHAPTER IX: Spiritual Subjectivity (Contd.): Beyond Introspection CHAPTER X: The Subject as Freedom