MN ROY’S NEW HUMANISM

(1887-1954)

INTRODUCTION
A humanist in India, Manvendra Nath Roy, the original name Narendra
Bhattacharya, was well known as M.N Roy in his book “New Humanism – A
Manifesto”, which proposed a scientific, materialist, humanist philosophy. He
traced morality to its biological roots and suggested that human progress
depended on progress towards liberty and truth. Roy had envisaged a scientific,
rational, democratic, egalitarian and humanist Indian society. But for the few
emancipated minds, the country was not open to his cosmopolitan approach
towards life. Technology and its dramatic innovations were yet to influence the
lives of the people. Roy was much ahead of his times and refused to
compromise with scientifically irrational or ethically unsound tenets of practical
politics. He paid a heavy cost for this and was neglected in Indian politics. He
failed to become a populist leader of the masses. Roy was too early an
experiment for them.

1. History of Humanism

Humanist thought can be traced back to the time of Gautama Buddha (563 - 483
B.C.) in ancient India, and Confucius (551 - 479 B.C.) in ancient China,
although the term "humanism" is more widely associated with Western
Philosophy. In ancient Greece, Thales, who is credited with creating the maxim
"Know thyself”. Other influential pre-Socratics is Protagoras known for his
famous dictum “man is the measure of all things.” Humanism as a philosophical
and literary movement originated in Italy in the Second half of the 14th Century
and diffused all over Europe. As an atheistic theory it was conceived in 17th
century by French philosopher. The revival of the study of Latin and Greek, and
the resultant interpretations of Roman and Greek texts, affected the whole
cultural, political, social and literary landscape of Europe. Renaissance
Humanists promoted human worth and individual dignity, and believed in the
practice of the liberal arts for all classes.

2. THE ORIGIN OF HUMANISM IN INDIA

But as a theistic-pragmatic theory it was conceived indirectly around 200 B.C.

at the time of Vedas and Upanishads in India. The Prayer begins with "Sarvatra
Sukhinah Santu Sarve Santu Niramayah;" means that `Let all be happy here and
let all enjoy full health' of Vedic Sages echoed this Universal welfare. The latter
half of the nineteenth century witnessed Hindu Renaissance pioneered by
Brahma Samajam of Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Arya Samajam of Dayanand
Saraswati, finally blossoming into Vedantic Hinduism of Vivekananda.
Vedantic Hinduism, stresses the importance of service to the weak and the
needy as its practical aspect. "That society is the greatest where the highest
truths become practical.”

3. ROY ON RADICAL HUMANISM/NEW HUMANISM

Humanism is derived from the Latin word Humanus, meaning a system of

thought concerned with human affairs in general. Humanism is an attitude
which attaches primary importance to Man and his faculties, affairs and
aspirations. The essence of Humanism is the importance placed on human
being, the individual as the centre of all aspirations of human activities. Radical
humanism is the major contribution of M. N. Roy towards political thought.
Roy’s ideas about Radical or New Humanism were inspired by the writing of
Friedrich Engles, a German industrialist who co-authored the Communist
Manifesto along with Karl Marx. In the later years of his life, Roy became an
exponent of "New Humanism". Roy called this "new philosophy of revolution",
which he developed in the later part of his life, "new humanism" or
"radicalism". Roy elaborated this philosophy in his New Humanism - A
Manifesto, first published in 1947. He distinguished this from other humanist
philosophy and termed it radical. Though Roy influenced in his approach by the
scientific materialism of Hobbes, Ethics of Spinoza and Secular politics as
propounded by Locke, he reconciled all these to propound a rational idea of
freedom with the concept of necessity. The central purpose of Roy's Radical
Humanism is to coordinate the philosophy of nature with social philosophy and
ethics in a monistic system. "It is for this reason that Roy claims it as humanist
as well as materialist, naturalist as well as nationalist, creativist as well as
determinist".

4. Basic Tenets of Radical/New Humanism

Roy's idea revolves around Man. "It is the man who creates society, state and
other illustrations and values for his own welfare. Man has the power to change
them for its greater welfare and convenience. His belief lies in "Man as the
measure of everything". As a radical humanist, his philosophical approach is
individualistic. The individual could not be subordinated either to a nation or to
a class. The individual should not lose his identity in the collective ego of such
notions. Man's being and becoming, his emotions, will and ideas determine his
life style. He has two basic traits, one, reason and the other, the urge for
freedom. The reason in man echoes the harmony of the universe. This urge for
freedom leads him to a search for knowledge. He considers freedom to be of
supreme value. While rationality provides dynamism to a man, the urge for
freedom gives him direction. Roy's conception of human nature becomes the
basis of society and state. He attributes their origin to the act of man for
promoting his freedom and material satisfaction.

Roy presents a communal pattern of social growth. Groups of human beings

settled down in particular localities for the cultivation and the organisation of
society. The ownership is common because land is cultivated by the labour of
the entire community. The fruits of collective labour belong to all collectively.
This does not last long. With the origin of private property, there arises the
necessity of same authority to govern the new relations; this gives birth to the
stale. Roy defined state as 'The political organisation of society. The evolution
of the state is not only historical, but also natural. For him, the state must exist
and discharge its limited functions. The basic feature of the radical democracy
is that the people must have the ways and means to exercise sovereign power
effectively. Power would be so distributed that maximum power would be
vested in local democracy and minimum at the apex along with other equally
important and autonomous social institutions reduces the functions of the state
to the minimum.

He laid more emphasis to Education in Radical democracy. As a radical

humanist, Roy came to believe that a revolution should be brought about not
through class struggle or armed violence, but through education. Roy
emphasised the concept of moral man. To him, politics cannot be separated
from ethics. Roy traces morality to rationality in man. Reason is the only
sanction for morality, without moral men, there can be no moral society. Roy
advocates humanist politics. This will lead to purification and rationalisation of
politics. To him, politics can be practiced without power. "Party politics has
given rise to power politics". To him any party government, at best, is for the
people, but it is never of the people and by the people. In a country like India,
he laments about the evils of party politics that exist, where ignorant
conservative people are exploited in the elections.

Thus, he preferred the abolition of the party system which will enable politics to
operate without an incentive of power. In the absence of that corrupting agency,
morality in political practice would be possible. Roy advocated for 'Revolution
by Consent of the people’ to resist tyranny and oppression in a non-violent
means. Roy further has conceived humanism as cosmopolitan humanism
because it denies the existence of autonomous National States. Roy does not
agree with the pattern of Western Democracy. He feels that the Western
Democracy is equally disappointing. According to Roy, the character of the
party should be judged on the basis of the records of the government.
 5. Three components of Radical Humanism.
1] Freedom
Objective of radical humanism is attainment of freedom in all possible sense of
the term. Such a freedom is possible only on the basis of scientific rationality by
rejecting irrational practices. The freedom will come with the promotion of
scientific rationality. He looked at science as a liberating force. He believed that
there should be promotion of scientific education. Hence he believed that
intellectual revolution or mental revolution has to precede over political or
economic revolution. Real liberation from all sorts of fears. This includes
freedom from foreign rule, political freedom, economic freedom, social freedom
and even freedom from religion. According to him, freedom does not lie in
choosing religion but freedom lies in man’s capacity to reject religion. Thus
radical humanism aims to liberate man even from supernatural fears. It targets
against superstitions.

2] Reason

It is natural for man to be rational. Man cannot survive without being rational. 
Radical humanism suggests the need for cultural renaissance.  It suggests
constant research. Constant examinations of our values in light of modern
scientific knowledge.  Radical humanism rejects ignorance, blind faith, fatalism
(doctrine of karma). Radical humanism has two features – critical and
constructive. Critical means criticizing the existing irrelevant modes of thinking
and constructive because creation of the order which gives highest importance
for human freedom.  Ultimate aim of radical humanism is creation of
cosmopolitan union of free persons linked to each other with reason and
humanity.

3] Ethics
Society to be based on secular rational principles rather than superstitions. 
According to M N Roy, radical humanism aims to establish human society in
harmony with the principles of nature.  Radical humanism rejects metaphysics.
It believes in science.  Radical humanism rejects the duality between matter and
idea. (Attack on Marxist approach.) According to him, ideas emerge during
man’s struggle for survival but later on become independent reality on its own.
Radical humanism supports intellectual revolution. Human brain is most
important means of production. It produces the most important things i.e. Ideas. 
The crisis of modern civilization is the lack of faith in the innate rationality of
man. Like Protagoras , he also believes that man is a measure of everything.
The progress of the society to be measured by the amount of freedom it gives to
man.

6. Inadequacies of Communism
Roy’s criticism of communism, contained in theses seven to eleven is based
mainly on the experience of the former Soviet Union, particularly the
“discrepancy between the ideal and the reality of the socialist order.” 
According to Roy, freedom does not necessarily follow from the capture of
political power in the name of the oppressed and the exploited classes and
abolition of private property in the means of production. For creating a new
world of freedom, revolution must go beyond an economic reorganization of
society. A political system and an economic experiment which subordinate the
man of flesh and blood to an imaginary collective ego, be it the nation or class,
cannot possibly be, in Roy’s view, the suitable means for the attainment of the
goal of freedom. The Marxian doctrine of state, according to which the state is
an instrument of exploitation of one class by another, is clearly rejected by Roy.
According to Roy, the state is “the political organization of society” and “its
withering away under communism is a utopia which has been exploded by
experience”. Similarly, Roy rejects the communist doctrine of the dictatorship
of the proletariat. “Dictatorship of any form, however plausible may be the
pretext for it, is,” asserts Roy, “excluded by the Radical-Humanist perspective
of social revolution”.

7. Shortcomings of Formal Parliamentary Democracy

 Roy has discussed the shortcomings of formal parliamentary democracy in his
twelfth and thirteenth theses. These flaws, according to Roy, are outcome of the
delegation of power. Atomized individual citizens are, in Roy’s view, powerless
for all practical purposes, and for most of the time. They have no means to
exercise their sovereignty and to wield a standing control of the state
machinery. “To make democracy effective,” says Roy, “power must always
remain vested in the people and there must be ways and means for the people to
wield sovereign power effectively, not periodically, but from day to day.

8. Radical Democracy
 Thus, Roy’s ideal of radical democracy, as outlined in theses fourteen to
twenty-two consists of a highly decentralized democracy based on a network of
people’s committee’s through which citizens wield a standing democratic
control over the state.Roy has not ignored the economic aspect of his ideal of
radical democracy. He argued that progressive satisfaction of the material
necessities is the pre-condition for the individual members of society unfolding
their intellectual and other finer human potentialities. According to him, an
economic reorganization, which will guarantee a progressively rising standard
of living, is the foundation of the Radical Democratic State. “Economic
liberation of the masses”, says Roy, “is an essential condition for their
advancing towards the goal of freedom.” The ideal of radical democracy will be
attained, according to Roy, through the collective efforts of mentally free men
united and determined for creating a world of freedom. They will function as
the guides, friends and philosophers of the people rather than as their would-be
rulers. Consistent with the goal of freedom, their political practice will be
rational and, therefore, ethical. Roy categorically asserts that a social
renaissance can come only through determined and widespread endeavour to
educate the people as regards the principles of freedom and rational co-
operative living.  Social revolution, according to Roy, requires a rapidly
increasing number of men of the new renaissance, and a rapidly expanding
system of people’s committees and an organic combination of both. The
program of revolution will similarly be based on the principles of freedom,
reason and social harmony.

9. Criticism of Roy

1) There is nothing new in new humanism

2) The logical outcome of humanism is materialism. In practice it will lead to
consumerism.
3) Humanism emphasizes on human needs and its centrality. Therefore it
creates imbalance in the ecology leading to various serious problems.
4) New humanism rejects the existence of god. Therefore it is unable to answer
some of the fundamental questions related to human existence. Therefore new
humanism could not become a popular philosophy.
But still Roy’s views regarding accepts the basic assumptions of humanism but
his explanation of various principles of humanism is new in the sense that he
explained them in the light of biology and social sciences. His explanation of
freedom morality and reason established Roy as an Original Indian Philosopher.

10. Relevance of MN Roy in Today’s World

Taking the example from the present, after sixty years of Roy’s absence from
the scene, AAP wants to govern with the help of mohalla samitees, and we are
again reminded of Roy’s idea of ‘People’s Committees’.Civic maturity of the
voters is the mandatory prerequisite for the success of participatory democracy.
And that has to be done with the help of expert professionals, truthful
administrators and selfless politicians who are culturally reformed and
scientifically modern in their approach towards life; who have learnt to respect
all human beings without any discrimination with an urge to make this country
a cleaner and better place to live in. They are required to work amongst the
voters as their `educators’.This is what Roy had suggested. Honesty in desire is
one thing but ability to fulfil it is another. Taking the second example from the
present, after sixty years of Roy’s absence from the scene, AAP wants to govern
with the help of mohalla samitees, and we are again reminded of Roy’s idea of
‘People’s Committees’. But has he also become morally and culturally mature
enough to know the difference of a modern, democratic, civic society from a
traditional, religious, feudal society? Civic maturity of the voters is the
mandatory prerequisite for the success of participatory democracy. And that has
to be done with the help of expert professionals, truthful administrators and
selfless politicians who are culturally reformed and scientifically modern in
their approach towards life; who have learnt to respect all human beings without
any discrimination with an urge to make this country a cleaner and better place
to live in. They are required to work amongst the voters as their `educators’.
This is what Roy had suggested. Honesty in desire is one thing but ability to
fulfil it is another. Complex issues of the modern society can’t be solved merely
by goodwill and consensus but by expert opinions as well, otherwise chaos and
anarchy will prevail. We live in an age where production is sumptuous but
distribution is partial; where science has conquered irrationality but religion is
propagating myths and superstitions where technology has brought humanity
closer but nationalism is instigating wars and terrorism. Philosophers and
thinkers have contributed to the refinement of human knowledge; science and
technology have given facilities of comfort and ease to human existence but
frauds and deceptions have tried to spoil true human progress in all areas of the
world’s living humanity. In such a situation Roy’s principle of ethical-politics
and rational-social morality appears to be the only solution for the salvation of
human strife.

11.CONCLUSION

Therefore, socio-political transformation in society can be brought about from

below by the initiative of the people at the local level, striving for freedom and
not revolution imposed from above, by a political party which succeeds in
capturing state power. The state legislature cannot solve all the problems. As
proved in India, that in spite of large scale legislation to curb corruption, crime,
dowry system, crime against women, infanticide, feticide have increased
because of lack of cultural awareness in the masses. He hopes for the creation of
sane and sensible individual to replace the modern, mechanical and materialistic
man of west. He must come out of the dark and ugly face of humanity of today.
Man must break free from cult of violence hatred and jealousy, which fills
human personality at large. All is not lost. These philosophical perspectives
contain humanistic practical and pragmatic elements that have undoubtedly
greater relevance to the modern world-situation. n this is way the Indian
philosophers aimed at “sarve jana skhono bhavanthu” which means Let all be
happy.