Shaj Mohan

Shaj Mohan is an Indian philosopher. His philosophical works are in the areas of metaphysics, reason, philosophy of technology, philosophy of politics, and secrecy. 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.

Biography Mohan completed his early education in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, and studied philosophy at St. Stephen's College, Delhi where he taught for some time. He has academic degrees in economics and philosophy. Mohan is originally from Tirunelveli. His grandfather Nadaraja Pillai participated in the Indian independence movement with the Indian National Congress.

He has published in the areas of metaphysics, reason, nature, secrecy, philosophy of technology, and philosophy of politics.

He has written philosophical essays against the rise of Hindu nationalism in The Indian Express, Mediapart, Outlook, La Croix, The Wire, The Caravan, Le Monde and Libération. As per Le Monde he has faced difficulties due to his political writings.

In 2021 the American critical theory journal Episteme published a special issue on the philosophy of Mohan and Divya Dwivedi.

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. According to Counter Currents there is “something which can be called a revolutionary theory, but not under that name” in his work.

His work combines the formalism and argumentation of analytic philosophy with the intuitive exegetical style of continental philosophy. Mohan is credited with having "created a new voice in philosophy" resembling the style of prophesy. 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". This rethinking of the principle of reason is made possible through interpreting the philosophical tradition of faculties in a new way.

Mohan wrote the books Gandhi and Philosophy: On Theological Anti-politics published by Bloomsbury Academic, UK and Indian Philosophy, Indian Revolution: On Caste and Politics 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,

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.

The book is an anthology of essays and interviews outlining a revolutionary theory in anti-caste politics. 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. It contains a new theory of history suitable for understanding the lower caste majority position in politics and for theorising politics of equality. 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.

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. American critical theory journal Episteme published a special issue of critical assessments of the philosophy of Mohan and Divya Dwivedi in 2021.

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".

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.