{{short description|Philosopher}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox philosopher | region = | era = Contemporary philosophy | image = Shaj Mohan, philosopher - 15.jpg | caption = Shaj Mohan, philosopher | name = Shaj Mohan | alma_mater = St. Stephen's College, Delhi | school_tradition = Deconstruction<br />Post-metaphysics | main_interests = Ontology<br /> Metaphysics<br /> Philosophy of technology<br />Philosophy of politics<br />Reason<br />Anastasis | notable_ideas = Stasis,<ref>{{cite news |title=Shaj Mohan : "Nous sommes en état de stase" |url=https://www.franceculture.fr/societe/shaj-mohan-nous-sommes-en-etat-de-stase |publisher=France Culture}}</ref> anastasis, hypophysics,<ref>{{cite news |title=Gandhi and Philosophy: Hypophysics and the Comparison between Caste and Race |url=http://positionspolitics.org/gandhi-and-philosophy-hypophysics-and-the-comparison-between-caste-and-race/ |publisher=Episteme}}</ref> Comprehending law<ref>{{cite news |title=Transformative Imagination and the Need for Law |url=http://positionspolitics.org/transformative-imagination-and-the-need-for-law/ |publisher=Episteme}}</ref> |institutions=St Stephen's College, Delhi|language=English}}
'''Shaj Mohan''' is an Indian philosopher.<ref>{{cite web |title=Coronavirus and Philosophers |date=8 January 2022 |url=http://www.journal-psychoanalysis.eu/coronavirus-and-philosophers/}}</ref><ref name="Experiments with Hypophysics">{{Cite web|url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/dispatches/article29575546.ece|title=Gandhi's Experiments with Hypophysics|website=Frontline|date=2 October 2019 }}</ref><ref name="new book examines Gandhi">{{Cite news|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/a-new-book-examines-what-we-talk-about-when-we-talk-about-the-father-of-the-nation-5910744/|title=A new book examines what we talk about when we talk about the Father of the Nation |newspaper=The Indian Express}}</ref><ref name="mediapart">{{Cite web|url=https://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/international/270518/hindu-nationalism-and-why-being-philosopher-india-can-get-you-killed?_locale=en&onglet=full|title=Hindu nationalism and why 'being a philosopher in India can get you killed |website=Mediapart|date=27 May 2018 }}</ref> His philosophical works are in the areas of metaphysics, reason, philosophy of technology, philosophy of politics, and secrecy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/author/shaj-mohan|title=Shaj Mohan bio at Bloomsbury Academic, UK|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/les-chemins-de-la-philosophie/philosopher-en-inde|title=Une nuit de philosophie (1/4) : Philosopher en Inde|website=France Culture}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://savoirs.ens.fr/conferencier.php?id=3291|title=Shaj Mohan|website=École normale supérieure}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thewire.in/books/gandhi-and-philosophy-book-review|title=Book Review: Gandhi as Chrysalis for a New Philosophy|website=The Wire}}</ref> Mohan's works are based on the principle of ''anastasis'' according to which philosophy is an ever-present possibility on the basis of a reinterpretation of reason.<ref name="Resurrection of Philosophy">{{Cite web|url=https://thewire.in/books/gandhi-and-the-resurrection-of-philosophy|title=The Resurrection of Philosophy|website=The Wire}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Deconstructive Materialism of Dwivedi and Mohan: A New Philosophy of Freedom|url=http://positionspolitics.org/the-deconstructive-materialism-of-dwivedi-and-mohan-a-new-philosophy-of-freedom/|access-date=2021-04-07|website=positions politics|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Biography== Mohan completed his early education in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and studied philosophy at St. Stephen's College, Delhi where he taught for some time.<ref name="Resurrection of Philosophy" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/the-sound-of-flicking-nails/article3195427.ece|title=The sound of flicking nails|newspaper=The Hindu}}</ref> He has academic degrees in economics and philosophy.<ref name="Experiments with Hypophysics" /><ref name="deccanchronicle_110219">{{Cite news|url=https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/110219/new-book-rubbishes-bjp-aim-to-assimilate-gandhi.html|title=New book rubbishes BJP aim to assimilate Gandhi|newspaper=Deccan Chronicle}}</ref> Mohan is originally from Tirunelveli. His grandfather Nadaraja Pillai participated in the Indian independence movement with the Indian National Congress.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Two philosophers and a political theorist: An allegory of Indian public sphere |url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/features/specials/two-philosophers-and-a-political-theorist-an-allegory-of-indian-public-sphere-1.8048901 |access-date=2022-12-05 |website=English.Mathrubhumi|date=15 November 2022 }}</ref>
He has published in the areas of metaphysics, reason, nature,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Yu|first1=Ai|year=2020|title=Digital surveillance in post-coronavirus China: a feminist view on the price we pay|url= |journal=Gender, Work & Organization|volume=27|issue=5|pages=774–777|doi=10.1111/gwao.12471|pmc=7280578|pmid=32837009}}</ref> secrecy, philosophy of technology,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Apter|first1=Emily|year=2019|title=Alphabetic Memes: Caricature, Satire, and Political literacy in the Age of Trump|journal=October|volume=170|pages=5–24|doi=10.1162/octo_a_00366|doi-access=free|s2cid=208268701}}</ref> and philosophy of politics.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Dhanda|first1=Meena|title=Philosophical Foundations of Anti-Casteism|url=https://academic.oup.com/aristotelian/article-abstract/120/1/71/5825765?redirectedFrom=fulltext|journal=Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society|volume=120}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Is privacy a privilege?|newspaper=The Tribune|url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/spectrum/books/is-privacy-a-privilege/220056.html}}</ref><ref name="On the relation between">{{Cite book|last=Mohan|first=Shaj|title=The Public Sphere From Outside the West|date=2015|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=9781472571922|chapter=On the relation between the Obscure, the Cryptic, and the Public|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjJBCgAAQBAJ&q=shaj+mohan+secret+public+sphere&pg=PT66|via=Google Books}}</ref>
He has written philosophical essays against the rise of Hindu nationalism in The Indian Express,<ref name="Courage to Begin">{{Cite web|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/express-sunday-eye/gandhi-jayanti-anniversary-150-a-new-afterlife-6034217/|title=Courage to Begin|website=The Indian Express|date=30 September 2019}}</ref> Mediapart,<ref>{{cite news |title=Hindu nationalism and why 'being a philosopher in India can get you killed' |url=https://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/international/270518/hindu-nationalism-and-why-being-philosopher-india-can-get-you-killed/commentaires |publisher=Mediapart}}</ref> Outlook, La Croix,<ref>{{cite news |title=Un nouveau mouvement pour l'indépendance de l'Inde |url=https://www.la-croix.com/Debats/Forum-et-debats/nouveau-mouvement-lindependance-lInde-2020-01-06-1201069970 |publisher=La Croix}}</ref> The Wire, The Caravan,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Reghu|first=co-authored by Divya Dwivedi, Shaj Mohan, J|title=How upper castes invented a Hindu majority|url=https://caravanmagazine.in/religion/how-upper-castes-invented-hindu-majority|access-date=2021-04-07|website=The Caravan|language=en}}</ref> Le Monde<ref>{{cite news |title= En Inde, les troubles s'expliquent en partie par la Constitution du pays |url=https://www.lemonde.fr/idees/article/2020/01/24/en-inde-les-troubles-s-expliquent-en-partie-par-la-constitution-du-pays_6027035_3232.html |publisher=Le Monde}}</ref> and Libération.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2018/09/05/l-antifascisme-un-crime-en-inde_1676515|title=L'antifascisme, un crime en Inde Par Divya Dwivedi et Shaj Mohan|website=Libération|date=5 September 2018}}</ref> As per Le Monde he has faced difficulties due to his political writings.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-02-02|title=En Inde, le mensuel " The Caravan " est harcelé par la police|language=fr|work=Le Monde.fr|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2021/02/02/en-inde-le-mensuel-the-caravan-est-harcele-par-la-police_6068474_3210.html|access-date=2021-04-07}}</ref>
In 2021 the American critical theory journal Episteme published a special issue on the philosophy of Mohan and Divya Dwivedi.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Philosophy for Another Time; Towards a Collective Political Imagination|url=http://positionspolitics.org/episteme-4/|access-date=2021-03-11|website=positions politics|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Philosophical work== Mohan's work shows a new possibility for philosophy which is neither metaphysics nor deconstruction, and its orientation was described as ''deconstructive materialism''.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=The Deconstructive Materialism of Dwivedi and Mohan: A New Philosophy of Freedom|url=http://positionspolitics.org/the-deconstructive-materialism-of-dwivedi-and-mohan-a-new-philosophy-of-freedom/|access-date=2021-03-13|website=positions politics|language=en-US}}</ref> According to Counter Currents there is “something which can be called a revolutionary theory, but not under that name” in his work.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-05 |title=Class, Caste And Communism: An Interview With J. Reghu{{!}} Countercurrents |url=https://countercurrents.org/2023/04/class-caste-and-communism-an-interview-with-j-reghu/ |access-date=2023-07-09 |website=countercurrents.org |language=en-US}}</ref>
His work combines the formalism and argumentation of analytic philosophy with the intuitive exegetical style of continental philosophy.<ref>{{Cite web|title=What we need is collective shared political inventions; Shaj Mohan tells ILNA|url=https://www.ilna.news/Section-world-8/929698-what-we-need-is-collective-shared-political-inventions-shaj-mohan-tells-ilna|access-date=2020-07-19|website=ILNA|date=22 June 2020 |language=en}}</ref> Mohan is credited with having "created a new voice in philosophy" resembling the style of prophesy.<ref name="Resurrection of Philosophy" /> Mohan said that it is possible to practice philosophy without anchoring it to any tradition.<ref>{{cite web |title="The Winter of Absolute Zero": Interview with Shaj Mohan by Auwn Gurmani |url=http://www.nakedpunch.com/articles/327 |website=Naked Punch |access-date=4 June 2020 |archive-date=9 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809131018/http://nakedpunch.com/articles/327 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He argued that the ''principle of reason'' has an important role in philosophy in spite of the criticisms of it in the 20th century. Reason exceeds mechanical thinking as it has a relation to "the obscure".<ref>{{Cite web|title="But, there is nothing outside of philosophy": Conversation between Shaj Mohan and Rachel Adams|url=http://positionspolitics.org/conversation-between-shaj-mohan-and-rachel-adams/|access-date=2021-03-13|website=positions politics|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Principle of Sufficient Reason">{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zjJBCgAAQBAJ&q=shaj+mohan+technology&pg=PT66 |chapter=Principle of Sufficient Reason 2: On Information Metaphysics |title=The Public Sphere From Outside the West |first1=Shaj |last1=Mohan |first2=Anish |last2=Mohammed |date=2015 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |via=Google Books |isbn=9781472571922}}</ref> This rethinking of the principle of reason is made possible through interpreting the philosophical tradition of faculties in a new way.<ref name=":1" /> His works are opposed to exceptionalist style of thinking, including state of exception.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Chambers|first=Claire|date=2021-12-27|title=Unreliable Witnesses?|url=https://3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2021/12/unreliable-witnesses.html|access-date=2022-01-30|website=3 Quarks Daily|language=en-US}}</ref>
Mohan wrote the books ''Gandhi and Philosophy: On Theological Anti-politics'' published by Bloomsbury Academic, UK<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/gandhi-and-philosophy-9781474221719/|title=Gandhi and philosophy|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing}}</ref> and ''Indian Philosophy, Indian Revolution: On Caste and Politics''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-08 |title=Dissecting the politics of caste {{!}} Book review |url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/features/books/book-review-of-indian-philosophy-indian-revolution-on-caste-and-politics-1.9621316 |access-date=2024-06-15 |website=English.Mathrubhumi}}</ref> published by Hurst Publishers, UK with the philosopher Divya Dwivedi.
Jean-Luc Nancy wrote the foreword to ''Gandhi and Philosophy'' and described the originality this work in terms of the relation shown by it between truth and suffering. Nancy wrote that this work creates the new beginning for philosophy following the end of metaphysics,{{blockquote|This is how this book comes to our attention and contributes to orient us, if I may say so, toward a thought, and even a world, neither humanist nor reduced to suffering in the name of Truth. In the terms of this work: neither metaphysics nor hypophysics.<ref name="Gandhi and Philosophy how this book" />}}Rachel Adams and Crain Soudien assert that Mohan's "thought is increasingly becoming one of the most radical and important contributions to the philosophy of the world, today".<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Adams |first1=Rachel |last2=Soudien |first2=Crain |date=2022-10-31 |title=Introduction: Radical Reason |url=https://sajs.co.za/article/view/15000 |journal=South African Journal of Science |language=en |volume=118 |issue=Special issue: Radical Reason |doi=10.17159/sajs.2022/15000 |s2cid=253198738 |issn=1996-7489|doi-access=free }}</ref>
=== ''Gandhi and Philosophy: On Theological Anti-politics'' === According to Jean-Luc Nancy ''Gandhi and Philosophy'' leads to a new orientation outside of the theological, metaphysical and nihilistic tendencies in philosophy. Bernard Stiegler said that this work "give us to reconsider the history of nihilism in the eschatological contemporaneity and shows its ultimate limits" and offers a new path.<ref name="Stiegler" /><ref name="bloomsbury_9781474221719"/> ''Gandhi and Philosophy'' calls this new beginning ''the anastasis of philosophy''.<ref name="Chrysalis">{{Cite web|url=https://thewire.in/books/gandhi-and-philosophy-book-review|title=Gandhi as Chrysalis for a New Philosophy|website=The Wire}}</ref> Robert Bernasconi said that the inventiveness and the constructivism behind the concept of ''ana-stasis'', or the overcoming of stasis, has a relation to the project of ''re-beginning of philosophy'' by Heidegger.<ref name="YouTube">{{cite AV media |title=Robert Bernasconi speaking at the launch of 'Gandhi & Philosophy' |date=14 March 2019 |publisher=Bloomsbury India |via=YouTube |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZwd_Gl-aN0&t=2s}}</ref>
''Gandhi and Philosophy'' proposed that parallel to the metaphysical tendency in philosophy there is ''hypophysics''. Hypophysics is defined as "a conception of nature as value". Mohan said "This non-philosophical system, which we call hypophysics, is necessarily interesting for philosophy. "<ref name="new book examines Gandhi" /> The distance from nature that human beings and natural objects come to have through the effects of technology lessens their value, or brings them closer to evil. Gandhi's concept of passive force or nonviolence is an implication of his hypophysical commitment to nature.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://openthemagazine.com/lounge/books/second-thoughts/|title= A philosophical appraisal of Gandhi's outlook and ideas|first=Siddharth|last=Singh|website=Open Magazine|date= 27 September 2019}}</ref> Livio Boni in Le collectif de pantin noted that the concept of hypophysics is influenced by Kant. Hypophysics enables a rational reading of Gandhi's works to learn from it without falling into the errors of mysticism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Le gandhisme à l'épreuve de la psychanalyse (II) Identification à l'autre et dés-identification par « restance » : les années de formation de Gandhi à Londres (1888-1891) - Collectif de Pantin |url=https://www.collectifdepantin.org/posts/le-gandhisme-a-lepreuve-de-la-psychanalyse-ii-identification-a-lautre-et-des-identification-par-restance-les-annees-de-formation-de-gandhi-a-londres-1888-1891 |access-date=2023-06-12 |website=www.collectifdepantin.org |language=fr}}</ref>
The philosophical direction outside of metaphysics and hypophysics is created through the invention of a new conceptual order. It is meant to enable philosophy to step outside the regime of sign, signifier, and text.<ref name="Chrysalis" /><ref name="new book examines Gandhi" /> The Book Review said that the philosophical project of ''Gandhi and Philosophy'' is to create new evaluative categories, "the authors, in engaging with Gandhi's thought, create their categories, at once descriptive and evaluative" while pointing to the difficulty given by the rigour of a "A seminal if difficult read for those with an appetite for philosophy".<ref name="The Book Review">{{Cite web|url=http://thebookreviewindia.org/philosophizing-gandhi/|title=Philosophizing Gandhi|first=V|last=Tankha|website=The Book Review}}</ref> Some of the conceptual inventions have been noted to have come from mathematics and biology.<ref name=":1"/>
The constructionist tendency of ''Gandhi and Philosophy'' places it between the dominant philosophical styles of continental philosophy and analytical philosophy.<ref name="Chrysalis" /> The conclusion of ''Gandhi and Philosophy'' emphasizes the construction of a new dimension in philosophy. {{blockquote|Anastasis is the obscure beginning which would gather the occidental and the oriental to make of them a chrysalis and set off the imagos born with their own spans and skies; these skies and the imagos set against them will refuse to trade in orientations; and these skies will be invisible to the departed souls of Hegel who sought mercury in the darkest nights.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4sB2DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Gandhi+and+philosophy%22+%22the+obscure+beginning+which+would%22&pg=PA217 |title=Gandhi and Philosophy: On Theological Anti-Politics |first1=Shaj |last1=Mohan |first2=Divya |last2=Dwivedi |date=December 13, 2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |page=217 |via=Google Books |isbn=978-1-4742-2173-3}}</ref>}}
=== Indian Philosophy, Indian Revolution: On Caste and Politics === Mohan co-authored the book ''Indian Philosophy, Indian Revolution: On Caste and Politics'' with Divya Dwivedi. The book was edited and annotated by Maël Montévil who added a philosophical glossary to the book explaining the philosophical terminology of Dwivedi and Mohan.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=An Anthology of Anti-Caste Essays and the Question of Who Gets to Kill Whom |url=https://thewire.in/books/an-anthology-of-anti-caste-essays-and-the-question-of-who-gets-to-kill-whom |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=thewire.in}}</ref>
The book is an anthology of essays and interviews outlining a revolutionary theory in anti-caste politics.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Punia |first=Aarushi |date=2024-04-25 |title=Book review: 'Indian Philosophy, Indian Revolution'; Imagining a country led by lower castes |url=https://maktoobmedia.com/more/bookshelf/book-review-indian-philosophy-indian-revolution-imagining-a-country-led-by-lower-castes/ |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=Maktoob media |language=en-US}}</ref> According to the book the caste system is the oldest structured program of racism continuing uninterrupted for 3000 years. It argues that Hindu religion is a 20th century invention by the upper caste leaders of India and British colonial administration, and it serves to suppress the political reality of lower caste people in all religious denominations constituting the real majority population of India.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Religion döljer klass i Narendra Modis Indien |url=https://www.parabol.press/religion-doljer-klass-i-narendra-modis-indien/ |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=Parabol |language=sv-SE}}</ref> It contains a new theory of history suitable for understanding the lower caste majority position in politics and for theorising politics of equality.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-06-08 |title=Dissecting the politics of caste {{!}} Book review |url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/features/books/book-review-of-indian-philosophy-indian-revolution-on-caste-and-politics-1.9621316 |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=English.Mathrubhumi}}</ref><ref name=":2" /> ''Indian Philosophy, Indian Revolution'' was called “an anti-caste political program or a manifesto only comparable to the little book of Marx and Engels.”<ref name=":2" />
The political points of view, analysis and theories developed in the book are based upon the previously published philosophical works, including on topics such as deconstruction, and the book ''Gandhi and Philosophy''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lèbre |first=Jérôme |date=2024-05-09 |title=En finir avec l’hindouisme, révolutionner l’Inde : la philosophie de Divya Dwivedi et Shaj Mohan - AOC media |url=https://aoc.media/analyse/2024/05/09/en-finir-avec-lhindouisme-revolutionner-linde-la-philosophie-de-divya-dwivedi-et-shaj-mohan/ |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=AOC media - Analyse Opinion Critique |language=fr-FR}}</ref> Philosophers including Slavoj Žižek and Robert Bernasconi, and theorist of literature Robert Young have said that the book has relevance to philosophical reflections on political crisis developing in other parts of the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Indian Philosophy, Indian Revolution {{!}} Hurst Publishers |url=https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/indian-philosophy-indian-revolution/ |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=HURST |language=en-GB}}</ref>
== Reception == Jean-Luc Nancy, Robert Bernasconi, Bernard Stiegler and Robert J. C. Young said that his work creates new possibilities for philosophy beyond the impasse of metaphysics and nihilism.<ref name="Gandhi and Philosophy how this book">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4MB2DwAAQBAJ&q=this+is+how+this+book+comes+to+us|title=Gandhi and Philosophy: On Theological Anti-Politics |first1=Shaj |last1=Mohan |first2=Divya |last2=Dwivedi |first3=Jean-Luc |last3=Nancy |date=13 December 2018 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |via=Google Books |isbn=978-1-4742-2173-3}}</ref><ref name="bloomsbury_9781474221719">{{Cite web|url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/gandhi-and-philosophy-9781474221719/|title=Reviews ''Gandhi and Philosophy: On Theological Anti-politics''|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic, UK}}</ref><ref name="Stiegler">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s7p1DwAAQBAJ&q=editions:G86bbr8NZ9wC|title=Qu'appelle-t-on Panser ?: 1. L'immense régression|first1=Bernard|last1=Stiegler|publisher=Les Liens qui Libèrent|via=Google Books|isbn=979-1-02-090559-8|date=14 November 2018}}</ref> American critical theory journal Episteme published a special issue of critical assessments of the philosophy of Mohan and Divya Dwivedi in 2021.<ref name=":0" />
Mohan's work on Gandhi was criticised from the point of view methodological and stylistic difficulty. Robert Bernasconi noted that ''Gandhi and Philosophy'' is a difficult book and it is "not a book that you will understand at first reading".<ref name="YouTube" /> The difficulty due to the constructivist style was noted by other authors as well.<ref name="The Book Review" /><ref name="Chrysalis" /><ref name="Leap of faith">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-reviews/gandhi-and-philosophy-on-theological-anti-politics-review-leap-of-faith/article29118506.ece|title='Gandhi and Philosophy – On Theological Anti-Politics' review: Leap of faith |first=Tridip|last=Suhrud|newspaper=The Hindu|date=17 August 2019 }}</ref>
''Gandhi and Philosophy'' was criticised from the point of view of the recent mounting criticisms of Gandhi in India and internationally. It was said that ''Gandhi and Philosophy'' might be exalting Gandhi while being very critical of him at the same time. The ambiguous approach to Gandhi was described in one of the commentaries in The Indian Express as "Mohan and Dwivedi have done a masterful job of avoiding the binary fork – hagiography or vituperation – as much of Gandhi and hagiography comes from a need to spiritualise Gandhi".<ref name="ayyar1">{{Cite news|last=Ayyar|first=Raj|title=Bending the binary|newspaper=The Indian Express|url=https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/bending-the-binary-gandhi-and-philosophy-5952328}}</ref>
''Economic and Political Weekly'' pointed to Mohan and Dwivedi's participation in the paradigm of "western philosophy", especially when Gandhi's goal was to create an alternative to Eurocentrism. ''EPW'' said that his work may be of interest only to continental philosophy as he does not participate in ''Indic'' discourses.<ref>{{Cite news |date=3 August 2019 |url=https://www.epw.in/journal/2019/31/book-reviews/gandhi-company-western-philosophers.html |title=Gandhi in the Company of Western Philosophers |issue=31 |pages=7–8 |first=A |last=Raghuramaraju |work=Economic and Political Weekly |volume=54}}</ref>
== Bibliography == '''Books''' * ''Indian Philosophy,'' ''Indian Revolution: On Caste and Politics'', Divya Dwivedi and Shaj Mohan, edited and annotated by Maël Montévil, Hurst Publishers, UK, 2024.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Dwivedi |first1=Divya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CaMo0AEACAAJ |title=Indian Philosophy, Indian Revolution: On Caste and Politics |last2=Mohan |first2=Shaj |date=2024-02-29 |publisher=C. Hurst (Publishers) Limited |isbn=978-1-911723-23-3 |language=en}}</ref>[https://m.thewire.in/article/books/an-anthology-of-anti-caste-essays-and-the-question-of-who-gets-to-kill-whom] * ''On Bernard Stiegler: Philosopher of Friendship'', Ed. Jean-Luc Nancy and Shaj Mohan, Bloomsbury Philosophy, UK, 2024.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Nancy |first1=Jean-Luc |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=URZIzwEACAAJ |title=On Bernard Stiegler: Philosopher of Friendship |last2=Mohan |first2=Shaj |date=2024-02-08 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=978-1-350-32902-7 |language=en}}</ref> * ''Gandhi and Philosophy: On Theological Anti-politics'', Bloomsbury Academic, 2018.
'''Articles''' * “[https://www.philosophy-world-democracy.org/and-the-beginning-of-philosophy And the Beginning of Philosophy]”, ''Philosophy World Democracy'', 2021. * Deconstruction and Anastasis, Qui Parle (2022) 31 (2): 339–344. * “[https://www.philosophy-world-democracy.org/other-beginning/be-held-in-the-gaze-of-the-stone Be Held in the Gaze of the Stone]”, ''Philosophy World Democracy'', 2022. *[https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/our-mysterious-being Our Mysterious Being] by Jean-Luc Nancy and Shaj Mohan. * “[https://www.philosophy-world-democracy.org/other-beginning/on-the-bastard-family-of-deconstruction On the Bastard Family of Deconstruction]“, ''Philosophy World Democracy, 2021.'' Text of public seminar in École Normale Supérieure on 23 November 2021https://savoirs.ens.fr/expose.php?id=4041 * [http://www.journal-psychoanalysis.eu/teleography-and-tendencies-part-2-history-and-anastasis/ Teleography and Tendencies: Part 2 History and Anastasis], ''European Journal of Psychoanalysis'', 2022. * “[https://www.philosophy-world-democracy.org/the-noise-of-all-things The Noise of All Things]“, ''Philosophy World Democracy, 2021.'' * "«Une Bonne Nuit pour de Longues Promenades »: pour Bernard Stiegler", ''Amitiés de Bernard Stiegler'', réunies par Jean-Luc Nancy, Editions Galilée, 2021. *[https://www.journal-psychoanalysis.eu/lesperienza-oscura L’esperienza oscura] in ''European Journal of Psychoanalysis'' *[https://www.franceculture.fr/societe/shaj-mohan-nous-sommes-en-etat-de-stase "Nous sommes en état de stase"] in France Culture *[https://www.philosophy-world-democracy.org/aber-es-gibt-nichts-au%C3%9Ferhalb „Aber es gibt nichts außerhalb der Philosophie“] * "The Obscure Experience", ''Coronavirus, Psychoanalysis, and Philosophy'', Ed. F. Castrillón, T. Marchevsky, London: Routledge, 2021. * “On the Relation Between the Obscure, the Cryptic and the Public”, in ''The Public Sphere From Outside the West'', London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015. * "What Carries Us On", ''Coronavirus, Psychoanalysis, and Philosophy'', Ed. F. Castrillón, T. Marchevsky, London: Routledge, 2021. '''Interviews'''
* [http://positionspolitics.org/conversation-between-shaj-mohan-and-rachel-adams/ “But, there is nothing outside of philosophy”], ''Positions Politics''. * [https://proteanmag.com/2023/12/02/let-the-world-speak-an-interview-with-shaj-mohan/ Let the World Speak: An Interview with Shaj Mohan], by Anthony Ballas and Kamran Baradaran, ''Protean Magazine'', 2023. * [http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/sajs/v118nspe2/06.pdf ‘I take, and I am taken, by what belongs to philosophy’: Philosophy and the redemption of democracy], South African Journal of Science, vol.118 spe 2 Pretoria 2022. * [https://www.franceculture.fr/emissions/les-chemins-de-la-philosophie/philosopher-en-inde Une nuit de philosophie (1/4) : Philosopher en Inde] Interview with ''Les Chemins de la philosophie'' at the UNESCOHeadquarters Paris, available as Podcast. * [https://www.mediapart.fr/en/journal/international/270518/hindu-nationalism-and-why-being-philosopher-india-can-get-you-killed Hindu nationalism and why 'being a philosopher in India can get you killed'] Interview at ''Mediapart''
== References == {{reflist}}
==Further reading== '''Secondary literature''' * Jean-Luc Nancy, “[https://www.liberation.fr/idees-et-debats/tribunes/la-religieuse-manipulation-du-pouvoir-20210307_LYR4ECBNONBPLLDV4GZOZNZFYI/ La religieuse manipulation du pouvoir]”, in Libération * Jérôme Lèbre, [https://aoc.media/analyse/2024/05/09/en-finir-avec-lhindouisme-revolutionner-linde-la-philosophie-de-divya-dwivedi-et-shaj-mohan/ La philosophie de Divya Dwivedi et Shaj Mohan], in AOC media. * R. Bernasconi, "[http://positionspolitics.org/welcoming-divya-dwivedi-and-shaj-mohans-gandhi-and-philosophy/ Welcoming Divya Dwivedi and Shaj Mohan’s Gandhi and Philosophy]", ''episteme'', issue 4: philosophy for another time; towards a collective political imagination. * R. Janardhanan, "[http://positionspolitics.org/the-deconstructive-materialism-of-dwivedi-and-mohan-a-new-philosophy-of-freedom/ The Deconstructive Materialism of Dwivedi and Mohan:A New Philosophy of Freedom]", ''Positions Politics'', 2021. * Anand Sreekumar, “[https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/european-journal-of-international-security/article/pacifist-and-the-hypophysical-a-cosmological-reading-of-gandhi/D606D11A57A829A8AEA4DD8F4468FEF1 The pacifist and the hypophysical: A cosmological reading of Gandhi]”, European Journal of International Security, Cambridge University Press:, 4 August 2023 ''',''' pp 1 – 19. DOI: <nowiki>https://doi.org/10.1017/eis.2023.18</nowiki> * Marguerite La Caze, "[http://positionspolitics.org/cocktails-more-lethal-than-molotovs/ Cocktails more lethal than Molotovs:Freedom, Indestinacy, and Responsibility in Gandhi and Philosophy]", ''episteme'', issue 4. * D. J. Smith "[http://positionspolitics.org/gandhi-and-philosophy-hypophysics-and-the-comparison-between-caste-and-race/ Gandhi and Philosophy: Hypophysics and the Comparison between Caste and Race]", ''episteme'', issue 4. * Raveendran, N. K. “[https://english.mathrubhumi.com/features/specials/two-philosophers-and-a-political-theorist-an-allegory-of-indian-public-sphere-1.8048901 Two philosophers and a political theorist: An allegory of Indian public sphere]”, Mathrubhumi.
'''Articles''' *[https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/the-crown-of-the-stasis/ The Crown of the Stasis]
==External links== *[http://positionspolitics.org/episteme-4/ Critical assessment of the works of Shaj Mohan and Divya Dwivedi] in the special issue of the journal ''Episteme'' *[https://thewire.in/books/gandhi-and-the-resurrection-of-philosophy The Resurrection of Philosophy] Biographical essay on Shaj Mohan and Divya Dwivedi at ''The Wire''. *[https://www.journal-psychoanalysis.eu/on-pandemics-nancy-esposito-nancy/ On Pandemics: Nancy, Dwivedi, Mohan, Esposito, Nancy, Ronchi] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119211402/http://www.journal-psychoanalysis.eu/on-pandemics-nancy-esposito-nancy/ |date=19 January 2021 }} Compendium of articles by Divya Dwivedi, Roberto Esposito, Shaj Mohan, Jean-Luc Nancy and others.
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohan, Shaj}} Category:Deconstruction Category:Heidegger scholars Category:Ontologists Category:Philosophers of nihilism Category:21st-century Indian philosophers Category:Philosophers of technology Category:Philosophers of art Category:St. Stephen's College, Delhi alumni Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)