Shaj Mohan

Shaj Mohan is a philosopher based in India. 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. 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 congress party. 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. 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. Mohan said that it is possible to practice philosophy without anchoring it to any tradition. 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".