Gopal Ganesh Agarkar - The Secular Rationalist Reformer

Author: Aravind GanachariPublisher: Popular PrakashanYear: 2005Language: EnglishPages: 388ISBN/UPC (if available): 8179912264 DescriptionAravind Ganachari examines how Agarkar wanted reason and an enlightened conscience to be the sole determinant in regulating human conduct and social behaviour. His rational approach constantly re-examined all social ideas and institutions-whether they served the purpose of social utility and comfort or not. He has among the few contemporaries in whose thought and practice there was no dichotomy. Education, contends the author, not just formal but also informal Lokshikshan, holds the key to Agarkar’s idea of human advancement in life. It is becoming increasingly difficult for individuals who have the courage of conviction to criticize politicians in power and demolish myths which influence the general public. In such an atmosphere it becomes necessary to revive the memory of Agarkar, a solitary rationalist, who fearlessly expressed his dissenting opini