Kuruvilla Pandikattu

Kuruvilla Pandikattu Joseph
Pandikattu in 2004
Born (1957-11-28) 28 November 1957
Areekara, Kerala, India
MotherMary Joseph Uthuppan
Education
EducationUniversity of Pune; University of Innsbruck, St. Joseph's College, Trichy
Theses
Doctoral advisorEmerich Coreth (PhD in Philosophy)
Lothar Lies (PhD in Theology)
Philosophical work
EraContemporary philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
School
InstitutionsXLRI – Xavier School of Management
Doctoral studentsSwapnil Sahoo (Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon); Roney George (Chaitanya Rehab); Joji Valli (Inner Bloom Therapy); Ginish Cheruparambil (Australia)
Main interests
Notable ideas
  • Dialogue as "ever approachable, never attainable"
  • Dialogue as "way of life"
  • human being as between before and beyond"
  • "Useless, but not meaningless"
  • Manageability trap
Websitekuru.in

Kuruvilla Pandikattu Joseph, SJ (pronunciationⓘ; born 28 November 1957) is an Indian Catholic priest and philosopher. He is Professor (Emeritus) of Philosophy, Science and Religion at Jnana Deepa, Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Pune, Maharashtra, India.[1] He was also Director of JDV Centre for Science-Religion Studies (JCSR) and Association of Science, Society and Religion (ASSR), Pune.

He has authored/edited 36 books and written more than 160 academic articles.[2] He is also a co-founder and has been a co-publisher of two journals, Jnanadeepa: Pune Journal of Religious Studies[3] and AUC: Asian Journal of Religious Studies.[4] Furthermore, he has organized more than 40 academic conferences. His weekly column on "Contemporary Spirituality" used to appear on Tuesdays in Financial Chronicle for eight years.[5] He has been contributing regularly to both academic and popular journals.[6]

He is involved in science-religion dialogue and science-related activities and teaches courses on them as well.[7] His areas of interest (and specialization) include: Science-Religion Dialogue;[8] Philosophical Anthropology (Emerich Coreth); Hermeneutics (Paul Ricœur) and inter-religious dialogue (Bede Griffiths).

Early life and influences

Pandikattu was born in Areekara,[9] Kerala, India[10] He was born to Uthuppan and Mary Joseph.[11] He had his early education at Government LP School, Veliyannoor (1962–65) and St. Rockey's U.P. School,[12] Areekara (1965–70). Then he pursued his basic studies at Sacred Heart School, Changanassery, Kerala (1970–73), India.

After completing his School Secondary Leaving Certificate (S.S.L.C.) at Changanassery, he left for Guhiajori, Dumka, Bihar (now Jharkhand). Other places of his studies are: St. Xavier's School, Sahibganj (1976–78); Loyola College, Chennai (1978–81); St. Joseph's College, Trichy (1981–83); Jnana Deepa, Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Pune (1983–85), and University of Pune (1988–91).[13]

Philosophical Approach

Prof Kuruvilla Pandikattu SJ, XLRI, Xavier School of Business, Jamshedpur

The starting points of Pandikattu's academic research are physics, philosophy (metaphysics) and religion (theology). He became interested in the quest for the unification of the fourfold forces of nature in physics and the hermeneutics of dialogue by Paul Ricoeur.[14] This led him to explore the interpretive and symbolic (or mythic) nature of religious experience and inspired his first doctoral thesis: Idols to die, so that symbols might live. He traces the idol-symbol tension back to every aspect of human experience.[15]

Human Being: Between Before and Beyond

Evoking the tensional and paradoxical life of human beings, he holds on to a dynamic and humanistic understanding of human beings, who transcend their own self-understanding and definitions.[16] Human being is the tensional appropriation between the past and the future, the memory and hope, the actual and the potential. It is in this tensional existence that human beings realise their own ever-evolving nature, including that of bound freedom[17] and limited relationship. As bound to freedom, they are finite beings seeking the infinite.[18] Experiencing limited love, they want to widen the horizon of understanding. Based on the concrete experiences of pleasure, they are open to the infinite bliss that remains open and ever elusive.[19][20]

Thus, he concludes that humans are free, to a very limited extent. This limited freedom provides him with the dignity and worth that they possess. They are capable of genuine love,[21] also to a very limited extent, and establishing relationships, in spite of the contrary claims and experiences.

Death: Live It!

As part of the dynamically tensional existence, human beings are “being-unto-death,” where the possibility of their own impossibility is always on the horizon.[22] At the same time, he is convinced that only "Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live" (Mitch Albom). ' Further, following Michel de Montaigne we may hold that “To philosophize is to learn to die.” So, as human beings, we are called to live gratefully and accept death gracefully![23] The paradox of life is when we recognise the depth of life, we also experience the depth of death![24][25]

Further, as human beings, we need to take seriously the possibility of our own collective annihilation (Sixth Mass Extinction, Ecological Crises, etc.) or enhancement (Artificial Intelligence, Technological Singularity, Moral Creativity, etc.).[26]

Dialogue: Ever Approachable, Never Attainable

For him, Human life is a dialogical encounter, where we approach the other more and more, but never exhaustively.[27][28] Ours is always an asymptotic relationship that keeps on growing and does not achieve its fullness. In a dialogical mode, we are in the process, collectively, of realising our own selves. It is a challenging and painstaking process, demanding acceptance (of the past mistakes), forgiveness[29] and readiness to reconcile.[30][31]

Pandikattu considers the dialogical dimension not only to religions but also to human existence. His second doctoral thesis on Bede Griffiths was published under the title Dialog as Way of Life.. He also took up issues in science-religion dialogue, which, according to him, is "not an option but an obligation" for the very survival of the human species, believing it called for radical commitment.[32][33] Two main areas of his research are physical immortality[34] and a viable or sustainable lifestyle.[35][36] He is convinced that genuine and painful dialogue is the only way forward for the human community.

From such a dialogical aspect, the whole reality is dialogical. The infinite or God (also referred to as "The Reality") is our human life's enticing and elusive dimension. God is ever-approachable, but never attainable exhaustively. Like the horizon, which invites and recedes from us, God is always near and far at the same time. He bases this insight on scientific details like the lowest temperature reachable (t →0) and knowing that the beginning of Big Bang (T →0) is like the "horizon"[37] which is never fully attainable.

Pandikattu says that the dialogical reality is relational and, at the same time, paradoxical. The paradox of love is that when two people who have accepted their own emptiness and recognize their own nothingness affirm each other, there emerges authentic love that is infinite. Thus, when one truly looks at reality and accepts its nothingness (even absurdity), there emerge traces of infinity. That is the paradoxical beauty of love and of our existence.[38]

Further, he pleads for a culture of dialogue between traditions, religions, nations and among science and religion. Without such dialogue, our human destiny is threatened. It is very challenging to enter into a dialogue with those who do not want it or are inimical to our world view, he acknowledges. Still, he believes that dialogue is the only way of life for contemporary society.[39]

Ethical Commitment

Pandikattu has authored and edited several influential works on ethics, focusing on business responsibility, sustainability, and applied ethical reasoning. In 2023, he published Business Ethics: Textbook of Concepts and Cases, which consists of 65 thematic chapters and 20 case studies designed to illustrate the application of ethical principles in organizational and managerial contexts.[40]

In July 2025, he served as editor of Applied Ethics and Rationality: Contemporary Indian Perspectives in Springer’s series Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics (vol. 74). The book brings together Indian and international scholars to address issues such as organizational ethics, environmental responsibility, technology, and moral philosophy in practice.[41][42]

His most recent contribution is Business Ethics: Advanced Concepts and Cases (2025), which presents 90 chapters across ten sections, integrating Jesuit values with contemporary challenges including ESG, AI ethics, and stakeholder capitalism. The book features a foreword by the 14th Dalai Lama and emphasizes moral leadership as essential for human flourishing.[43]

Earlier, in 2022, he authored Ethics, Sustainability and Fratelli Tutti, a work that places Pope Francis’s encyclical Fratelli Tutti in dialogue with ecological responsibility, business ethics, and interreligious solidarity. The book argues that sustainability must be rooted not only in economic or environmental concerns but also in an inclusive spirituality that affirms human dignity and fraternity.[44][45]

Pandikattu’s distinct ethical style combines phenomenological and hermeneutical approaches with a strong emphasis on dialogue between Indian traditions, Christian spirituality, and contemporary business contexts. His method stresses compassion, responsibility, and inclusive spirituality, framing ethics not as abstract rules but as lived practices that enable organizations and individuals to flourish in solidarity with society and the environment.

Existential Concern: The Best or Last Generation

Pandikattu has argued that humanity may be living in either its best generation, with unprecedented advances in science and technology, or potentially its last, given ecological crises, nuclear threats, and social fragmentation. For him, technological progress by itself cannot guarantee human survival; rather, the decisive factor is the cultivation of moral and spiritual consciousness. He resonates with Teilhard de Chardin’s conviction that “someday… we shall harness the energies of love,… without which we would be living the last generation.”[46]

In this regard, Pandikattu also recalls Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous admonition: “We must learn to live together as brothers [or sisters] or perish together as fools.”[47] He interprets this as an urgent call for solidarity, compassion, and ethical responsibility. For him, while technology may have made people neighbours, only spiritual and moral awakening can make them brothers and sisters. Without this ethical conversion, he warns, humanity risks forfeiting its future to violence, indifference, and ecological collapse.

Major Activities

Pandikattu has been actively involved in promoting science-religion dialogue, since he believes that there cannot be any real contradiction between these two (diverse and complementary) sources of knowledge.[48] He is interested in looking at both science and religion critically and creatively,[49] so that they can enrich each other and humanity. In this area, he has delivered numerous lectures, written numerous articles and books and organised conferences.[50]

Bibliography

Journals

Books

He has authored/edited more than 68 books [51] and written more than 210 academic articles.

References

  1. ^ Jnana Deepa, Pontifical Institute of Philosophy and Theology (2021), Handbook and Calendar, Pune: JD, p. 20.
  2. ^ "Kuruvilla Pandikattu — XLRI IRINS Profile". IRINS (Indian Research Information Network System). XLRI – Xavier School of Management. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  3. ^ Jnanadeepa Journal, Pune, India
  4. ^ AUC Journal, Pune, India
  5. ^ Pandikattu, K. (2018). Insights from Science and Silence in Arrangement with `Financial Chronicle’ Prof. Dr. Kuruvilla Pandikattu.
  6. ^ "Befriending the Other." Smart Companion. December 2015. pp. 28-29.
  7. ^ See Mialil, John (2008) Wonders in Nature, New Delhi: Media House, 2008, pp. 121–130.
  8. ^ It may be noted that together with Prof Job Kozhamthadam, he has started the first Master's Programme in Science and Religion at Jnana Deepa, Pontifical Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Pune, India. See also Kozhamthadam, Job (2002) Contemporary Science and Religion in Dialogue, Pune: ASSR, pp.98–111.
  9. ^ Areal View of Areekara
  10. ^ Directory South Asia, New Delhi: JCSA, 2010, p. 47
  11. ^ Now his family lives in the nearby village, Puthuvely, Kerala. He is the oldest of 4 children from his mother but has two older sisters from his father's previous marriage. He once quoted his true inspiration came from his niece Meera Joseph who he has known since her birth. He has a younger brother who has two children, a sister with three children who came to America in the early '80s, and he also has another sister who has two children, Christy Joseph and Sherin Joseph.
  12. ^ "St.Rockey's Upper Primary School, Areekara - Uzhavoor, District Kottayam (Kerala)".
  13. ^ His early intellectual life has been influenced by inspiring figures like Emmanuel Stellini (English, Sahibganj, Jharkhand), Prof Joseph Inchackal (Physics, Chennai) Prof G.A. Savariraj (Physics: Trichy), Prof Salvino Azzopardi (JDV, philosophy, Pune) and R. Sundararajan (Philosophy, University of Pune). Right from the beginning of his academic life, interests in physics and philosophy have accompanied him.
  14. ^ Idols to Die, Symbols to Live (Paul Ricoeur). Interculturual. 1999.
  15. ^ "Biography: Kuruvilla Pandikattu". Counterbalance. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  16. ^ Pandikattu, K. (2013). Between beneath, before and beyond: An exploration of the human condition based on Paul Ricoeur (1913-2005). Pune, India: CreatiVentures.
  17. ^ Pandikattu, K. (2004). Freedom to free: Human life as a collective search for self-realisation. New Delhi: Media House.
  18. ^ Pandikattu, K. (1999) “Human Freedom: The Finite Quest for the Infinite”. Jnanadeepa: Pune Journal of Religious Studies 2/2: 127-149.
  19. ^ Pandikattu, K. (2014). Elusive transcendence: An exploration of the human condition based on Paul Ricoeur. Washington, D.C.: Council for Research in Values and Philosophy.
  20. ^ "Kuruvilla Pandikattu". PhilPeople. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  21. ^ Pandikattu, K. (2010). Love: Be it! Mumbai: Better Yourself Books.
  22. ^ Pandikattu, K. (2005). Death: Live It! Pune: Jnanam.
  23. ^ Pandikattu, K. (2013). Gratefully and gracefully: Scientific and religious reflections on death and beyond. Pune: CreatiVentures.
  24. ^ Pandikattu, K. (2010). The depth of death: Scientific insights, religious openness. New Delhi, India: Serials Publications.
  25. ^ "Kuruvilla Pandikattu — Author on Figshare". Figshare. Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  26. ^ Pandikattu, Kuruvilla. (2005). The Creative Role of Religion in the Emergence of a Sustainable World-Order. Jnanadeepa: Pune Journal of Religious Studies, Jan 2005(8/1), 88–107.
  27. ^ "Life Is the Art of Encounter". Light of Truth. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  28. ^ Pandikattu, K. (2020). Ever Approachable, Never Attainable.
  29. ^ Pandikattu, K. (2009) “The Depth of Fault, the Height of Forgiveness: In Spite of the Incompleteness of History”. Gandhi Marg 31/4 (October–December 2009): 499-516.
  30. ^ Pandikattu, K. (2015). Ever approachable, never attainable: Science-religion dialogue in India.
  31. ^ "Kuruvilla Pandikattu". Counterbalance. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  32. ^ "Exploring the History of Science and Religion: An Interview with Job Kozhamthadam". Toynbee Prize Foundation. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  33. ^ "Science and Religion Can Coexist and Enrich Each Other". XLRI Xplore. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  34. ^ Pandikattu, K. (2022). Prof Dr Kuruvilla Pandikattu Joseph in Google Scholar
  35. ^ Kuruvilla Pandikattu, "Global Village vs Gandhian Villages: A Viable Vision."
  36. ^ "Kuruvilla Pandikattu in Counterbalance"
  37. ^ "Ever Approachable ... - Kuruvilla Pandikattu".
  38. ^ See Annals of Philosophy, Social and Human Disciplines
  39. ^ Pandikattu, Kuruvilla. (2015). Editorial: Dialogue as Way of Life. Jnanadeepa: Pune Journal of Religious Studies, July-Dec 2015(Vol 12/2), 5–8. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4295675
  40. ^ "Business Ethics: Textbook of Concepts and Cases". Christian World Imprints. 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  41. ^ Applied Ethics and Rationality: Contemporary Indian Perspectives. Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics. Vol. 74. Springer. July 2025. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-92139-1. ISBN 978-3-031-92138-4. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  42. ^ "Kuruvilla Pandikattu". UCA News. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  43. ^ "Business Ethics: Advanced Concepts and Cases". Christian World Imprints. 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  44. ^ "Ethics, Sustainability and Fratelli Tutti". Christian World Imprints. 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  45. ^ "Interview EP-67 with Prof. Dr. Kuruvilla Pandikattu Joseph SJ". YouTube. Retrieved 24 September 2025.
  46. ^ "The Future of Humanity" (PDF). Pax Lumina. January 2023. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  47. ^ "Commencement Address, Oberlin College, 1965". Oberlin College. June 1965. Retrieved 26 August 2025.
  48. ^ Express News Service. (2010, January 6). Constructive dialogue needed between science and religion, The Indian Express.
  49. ^ Pandikattu, K. (2008). Dancing to Diversity.
  50. ^ "Jnana Deepa, Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Pune".
  51. ^ "Books by Kuruvilla Pandikattu". Kuru.in. Kuruvilla Pandikattu. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
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