A group blog of scholars exploring Indian philosophy
Cross-posted at Love of All Wisdom. Andrew Ollett has recently taken up the point I made earlier this year that Buddhist ethics, in distinction from modern analytical ethics, is not primarily concerned with decision procedure. He identifies Indian non-analytic approaches Continue reading Decision and capacity, philosophical and historical
[Cross-posted at Love of All Wisdom.] A little while ago, responding to Garfield and Van Norden’s call for diversity in philosophy, I argued that we should fight for the inclusion of non-Western thought in philosophy programs on the grounds of Continue reading On al-Ghazālī and the cultural specificity of philosophy
[Cross-posted at Love of All Wisdom.] Does it matter whether something is or isn’t Buddhist? Or whether it is “distinctively” Buddhist? I was asked these related questions in two blog discussions from last year, both involving Justin Whitaker. Justin raised Continue reading Does it matter what we call Buddhist?
The American Council of Learned Societies and the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation have announced a series of fellowships for scholars at all levels from dissertation research to senior-level scholars, and grants to help endow new faculty chairs in Buddhist studies. Continue reading Fellowships in Buddhist Studies
On behalf of Karl-Stephan Bouthillette, main conference organizer: On Friday 22 July, LMU (Munich) welcomed Prof. Ujjwala Jha and Prof. V.N. Jha, two well known Indian Nyāya and Mīmāṃsā scholars, to discuss the Yoga Sūtras. It is a rare event Continue reading Recent conference on Yoga at Munich
Cross-posted at Love of All Wisdom. In the previous post I discussed why academic philosophers have usually focused on the West, and pointed out reasons why some amount of Western focus remains valuable. Above all, I noted: “we are always Continue reading The West within the rest
Cross-posted at Love of All Wisdom. Jay Garfield and Bryan Van Norden have a widely circulated article in a recent New York Times, chastising American philosophy departments for paying insufficient attention to non-Western traditions of thought. It will surprise nobody Continue reading Why philosophy departments have focused on the West
[Cross-posted from Love of All Wisdom.] Mindfulness meditation has become so mainstream that it’s not just doctors who prescribe it. A couple weeks ago, Boston University had a workshop on mindfulness for its information-technology staff. Google made a splash for Continue reading Of “White Buddhism”
[Cross-posted at Love of All Wisdom.] Vikram Chandra’s Geek Sublime might be the most popular book in a Western language ever to deal with Indian aesthetic theory. The book’s official subject is the aesthetics of computer science. Though I am getting Continue reading An aesthetic of extremes
I’ve recently been reading Christopher Gowans’s Buddhist Moral Philosophy: An Introduction. It is an introductory textbook of a sort that has not previously been attempted, and one that becomes particularly interesting in the light of David Chapman’s critiques of Buddhist Continue reading On the very idea of Buddhist ethics