A group blog of scholars exploring Indian philosophy
So, you think that Western thought is more diverse and interesting than “non-Western thought”? I have a non-polemical question: What did you read within what you call “non-Western thought”? If the list is extremely short compared to what you know Continue reading So, you think that Western thought is more diverse and interesting than “non-Western thought”?
Sanskrit philosophy is extremely sophisticated and I am convinced that we don’t need to borrow categories from Euro-American philosophy to better understand it. Parallels to Euro-American theories are welcome because they can help us focus on overlooked aspects, but they Continue reading A word of caution on philosophical methodology
Did Kumārila believe in the language-independent existence of deities? In their efficacy within sacrifices? I believe he did not. Sacrifices work independently of deities who at most might be Epicurean-like entities, with no function in human lives. For this purpose, Continue reading Kumārila on deities
Term: Two-year fixed contract. Based in Utrecht/Antwerp. Application is possible until Monday, November 3th. Interviews are being planned on November 11-13th. https://protestantstheologischeuniversiteit.recruitee.com/o/postdoctoral-scholarship-holder-in-the-field-of-engaged-buddhism
How does one know about the self, according to the three main schools discussed in my last post? Buddhist Epistemological School (Dharmakīrti): the self does not exist. The only thing that exists is a stream (santāna) of causally linked momentary Continue reading Cognition of the self
Background: This year I taught again a class on Sanskrit philosophy (for the first time since 2021). I only had 12 meetings, of three hours each, hence I had do made drastic choices. The following is the result of these Continue reading Intro to Sanskrit philosophy
On May 15, Harry Falk announced on the Indology mailing list that Johannes Bronkhorst had “left this world”. In the following weeks the mailing list (and, I am sure, other online forums) has been virtually monopolised by people remembering the Continue reading Thinking about Johannes Bronkhorst (with small updates)
One cannot solve the Agnīṣomīya problem (the clash between the prohibition to perform any violence and the prescription to slaughter an animal as an offer to Agni and Soma) via an appeal to suspension (bādha) of the prohibition to perform Continue reading On sacrificial violence
The second round of funding calls for the Global Philosophy of Religion 2 project are now open. These include: More information is available here: https://globalphilosophyofreligion.com/grants/
John Nemec has just published a new book (see here). He kindly agreed to present it to our audience in the post below. How much philosophy is there in story? How do stories relate ideas? How do they animate them Continue reading Brahmins and Kings, political philosophy in the Sanskrit Narratives (a guest post by John Nemec)