A group blog of scholars exploring Indian philosophy
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)
The first Kumārila conference took place at the University of Toronto in 2024. You can read more about why we need to read and write more about this key Sanskrit philosopher here: https://elisafreschi.com/2025/02/28/kumarila-conference-2025/ The second Kumārila conference will take place Continue reading Second Kumārila conference (2025)
Thank you, Elisa, Amod, and Ethan, for giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts on your fantastic blog! I’m a researcher in the field of South Asian Studies working with Vedic and Sanskrit texts. Since writing my dissertation on Continue reading Mantras and the inadequacy of language (guest post by Dominik Haas)
A student asked me how to do a good Sanskrit philosophy article. —Let us take for granted the rules for a good (generic) philosophy article, e.g. don’t start with ‘Since the beginning of time, humans doubted about x, and I Continue reading How to write a good Sanskrit philosophy article?
Veṅkaṭanātha has to adapt the Mīmāṃsā approach to free will to his Vaiṣṇava commitment to the role of God’s grace. He thus concludes that humans are free in their intentions, although they need God’s consent to convert them into action. Continue reading Veṅkaṭanātha on free will to surrender
We just had a symposium at the APA Eastern celebrating the ten years of the Indian Philosophy Blog. We also used it as a chance to reflect on the need to build a community of scholars in Sanskrit philosophy and Continue reading APA panel on the IPh blog