AUTONOMY OF LANGUAGE AND THE QUEST FOR TRUTH: A HERMENEUTIC ENQUIRY

Sreekumar Nellickappilly (Indian Institute of Technology, Madras)

The School of Sanskrit, Philosophy and Indic Studies (SSPIS) at Goa University cordially invites you to the online guest lecture titled "AUTONOMY OF LANGUAGE AND THE QUEST FOR TRUTH: A HERMENEUTIC ENQUIRY" by Prof. Sreekumar Nellickappilly (Professor of PhilosophyDepartment of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras). Kindly join us on 25 April 2025 (Friday) from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM IST at https://meet.google.com/tmf-tszd-osz

Abstract

The distinction between mythos and logos has significantly shaped how the European philosophical traditionconceives truth and knowledge. Since the Enlightenment, truth and knowledge have become increasinglyassociated—almost exclusively—with methodical, rational thought, while other forms of language were pushedto the margins, deemed incapable of making legitimate claims about them. Both Hans-Georg Gadamer and,before him, Martin Heidegger were trying to demonstrate that these alternative modes of speaking could notonly convey meaning and truth, but that analysing them could offer profound insights into the very nature oftruth and meaning. This points to the possibility of conceiving language as an autonomous sphere, where therelationship between language and being is not representational or referential. Gadamer’s hermeneuticaldescription of the relationship between poetical and religious texts demonstrates how language works in suchtexts to establish their autonomous status. They are “….texts which interpret themselves insofar as one needsno additional information about the occasion and the historical circumstances of their composition.” Thephilosophical analysis of language’s potential to be ‘autonomous’ and consequently of its ability in uncoveringreality reveal that the world that we experience is given to us as organized by linguistically articulated socialpattern. The concept of language as autonomous not only questions core assumptions about how languagerelates to reality, but also reshapes our understanding of human nature and our relationship with reality.  

Bio

Prof. Sreekumar Nellickappilly has been a Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences since2003. He earned his Master’s degree from Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, followed by an M.Phil andPh.D. from the University of Hyderabad. His academic interests lie primarily in Continental Philosophy, with afocus on Phenomenology and Hermeneutics, and he also has a keen interest in Bioethics. A recipient of theFulbright-Nehru Professional Excellence Fellowship (2017–18), Sreekumar has published numerous articles inpeer-reviewed journals and has guided both doctoral and post-doctoral scholars in philosophy. His mostrecent work is a book titled Debating Bioethics, published by Routledge.