Snippets: Ahimsa Conversation # 74 Thomas Wallgren
Channel: Ahimsa Conversations
Date: 2021-07-30

Mahatma Gandhi and the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein both help us to understand the dialogic nature of truth and its intrinsic connection to nonviolence and democracy. Thomas Wallgren, philosopher and political activist, explains that in order to commit myself to truth, I have to converse with the other. For this to be possible, the other has to be respected as a free being equal to me. It is only by facing the other nonviolently can I hope to learn more and see my limits and my mistakes. This is what connects the search for truth with freedom and nonviolence. Thomas, whose scholarship includes a deep interest in Gandhi and Wittgenstein, also talks about his engagement with politics and how the environmental movement in Nordic countries was inspired by Gandhian values. He reflects on the significance of Gandhi not accepting the normative standards of modernity as the ultimate standard but instead offering a larger vision. 
#Thomas Wallgren #Gandhi #Wittgenstein #Finland