Tagore’s Philosophy of Man: Reconciling Opposing Forces

Tagore speaks of an evolutionary process in which man passes through two phases of freedom—negative and positive. In the former, man detaches himself from the oppressive clutches of nature and in the latter, he forges endless relations of wider and wider unity with the infinite, the universe. This requires a reconciliation between the finite and the infinite as well as a reconciliation between two types of freedom. When man gains an extended vision of himself, he is conscious of his moral nature. The moral life is not so much a battle of good over evil as it is the cultivation of the moral side of our nature which represents unselfishness and control of desire—moral goodness comprises of the reconciliation of freedom and obligation. What is required is the inner concentration of mind, this leads to the serenity of the infinite in man which in turn leads to a harmony with all.