Amit Singh (December 7, 1921 – October 15, 1985) could have been considered one of India's most reclusive philosophers. Singh did not hold any position in life nor gain any prestige. His philosophies, to say the least, are considered very controversial and were never popular while he was alive. For this reason, he is not mentioned in any modern publications or web sites. Singh published very few of his works in the mainstream, preferring instead to create handwritten philosophical notations. His philosophical views are drawn mostly from these notes. The only portion of Singh's work that is slightly known today is his various critiques of the change in society, mostly stemming from the British withdrawal from India and the subsequent radical changes to the government.

Biography

Early Life

Singh was born, according to the a 196 interview, supposedly the only interview he gave, on December 7, 1921. In these days, Indian citizens did not keep detailed birth records. Because Singh is sich a common last name, it is impossible to verify whether one of the Singhs born on this date was the future philosopher Amit. During this same interview, Singh spoke of his father as being a well-to-do figure in British-controlled India, though he did not give any names or locations.

University Life

According again to his own account, Singh attended "a university" where he studied literature. In his spare time after his classes were finished for the day, Singh would read ancient Indian works and religious texts. These pieces apparently described society as it was in ancient India, complete with then-obsolete concepts like the caste system. Rather than detest such concepts, as his British teachers did, Singh was enthralled by descriptions of a sovereign India. He dreamed of reverting to this state when India eventually became its own nation. Singh was eventually expelled from this university for speaking about these works during classes while his British teacher contested their value.

Philosophical Life

After being expelled, Singh decided that he must spread the knowledge he had gained from his reading. However, his expulsion presented two problems to this. First of all, his prominent father had effectively disowned Singh because of the shame wrought from being expelled. Therefore, he was left without any money to support himself with. The second problem was that without a university degree, Singh could hardly hope to acquire a comfortable job that would give him time to relax, ponder, and write. In his interview, Singh would not comment on his first job after expulsion, though he did describe it as "low" and "beneath him." While this job gave him almost no time to write long philosophical tracts, Singh did manage to scribble various notes, from which his philosophies are drawn. Only one series of notes, Philosophy of a Man, was published and distributed, as most publishers looked down on Singh from an economic standpoint. This series did not gain any critical acclaim, and copies of it are hard to find.

Late Life

After his interview was published, Singh became something of an ironic celebrity. He welcomed the attention of other people, but wished that it was for his philosophy and not because everyone was laughing at him for being unsuccessful. Because of the misery caused by the article, Singh stopped writing his notes and burned the ones still in his possession. He died of unknown causes on October 15, 1985.

Works

Philosophy of a Man

Philosophy of a Man, originally published as Ek Manus (which translates to "One Man"), remains Singh's only published work. In copies that survive today, the original copyright date is not listed. Instead, the year 1987 is given, which means that any copies that may be owned are perhaps illegal reproductions of the original, seeing as Singh died in 1985. The book had terrible sales and was discontinued. Because it was assembled from various notes, Philosophy of a Man reads like a garbled book of ideas. Throughout the work, Singh attacks various bodies and defends his own ideas. The major theme that is possibly drawn from this work is the idea of stability. Singh, perhaps from his own experiences when India gained independence from Britain in 1947, had decided that rather than follow the ancient Indian societal systems he had read about while a student, India should be following the British system. Even though it curtailed the liberty of Indians, he argued, it was favorable to the corruption that become rampant in the new government. Stability with slavery, Singh decided, was superior to what he called "anarchical freedom."

Various Notes

While this is not a published work, Singh gave many notes to his old acquaintances. Since he could not be published after the failure of Philosophy of a Man, Singh entrusted his newer ideas with his friends. These notes were written between 1945, when revolutionary ferver was heating up in India, and 1967, when Singh gave his only interview. In these notes, Singh argues many different points not found in Philosophy of a Man. Luckily for modern readers of Singh's work, all of these notes were titled and dated for whatever reason. While Philosophy of a Man argued in favor of stability, a 1946 note called Nectar of Immortality argued against it. In Nectar of Immortality, Singh speaks of the need to "cast off" the "chains" that current socity was putting on them. Humanity, he argued, was killing itself off through its strict societal stability, and the only way to insure near-immortality was to embrace and even further an anarchy.