What is the Nyāyasūtra about?
I will be not the first one who notes that the list of padārtha ‘categories’ at the beginning of the Nyāyasūtra is somehow strange.
Author Archives: elisa freschi
PostDoc (2+3ys) on Yoga, Ayurveda Alchemy
I am posting the following announcement on behalf of Dagmar Wujastyk, who recently won an ERC project (that is, an amazingly competitive project funded by the EU, for which the chances of success are really low, lower than 10%, but Continue reading PostDoc (2+3ys) on Yoga, Ayurveda Alchemy
Some common prejudices about Indian Philosophy: It is time to give them up
Is Indian Philosophy “caste-ish”? Yes and no, in the sense that each philosophy is also the result of its sociological milieu, but it is not only that. Is Indian Philosophy only focused on “the Self”? Surely not.
Call for Papers: Is Theology Comparable? (Rome, September 17–19 2015)
Recently a few articles (see here, here and here) have raised the issue of whether philosophy of religion is not really little more than Christian apologetics. A straightforward answer would be that it is not, but an output of the Continue reading Call for Papers: Is Theology Comparable? (Rome, September 17–19 2015)
Necessity in Mīmāṃsā philosophy
Our Anand Vaidya has recently raised a very intriguing discussion on modality in Indian philosophy. His post started with the suggestion that modality is less central in Indian philosophy than it is in Western thought. In the comments, several scholars Continue reading Necessity in Mīmāṃsā philosophy
Why are postulation (arthāpatti) and inference not the same thing?
Arthāpatti ‘postulation’ is the instrument of knowledge through which we know that Devadatta is out given that he is alive and not home. In Classical India, just like among contemporary scholars, several thinkers (especially of the Nyāya school) have tried Continue reading Why are postulation (arthāpatti) and inference not the same thing?
“Is there Philosophy in India?” and what this question tells us, an essay by Ankur Barua
After many years, I am sort of fed up with having to answer the question above, and this is also why I had not read the essay by Barua (bearing the title Is there ‘Philosophy’ in India? An Exercise in Continue reading “Is there Philosophy in India?” and what this question tells us, an essay by Ankur Barua
Deontic rules at work: A case of conflict
Let us take the abstract form of a Vedic prescription: (A.) Whoever desires to achieve something should sacrifice It is easy for an objector to go on and argue as follows: A Śūdra (i.e., a member of the lowest class) Continue reading Deontic rules at work: A case of conflict
New Contributor
We have a new contributor in the IPhB! Malcolm Keating just completed his PhD at the philosophy department of the University of Texas, Austin. His thesis is entitled Speaking Indirectly: Non-Literal Meaning in Indian Philosophy and deals with lakṣaṇā from Continue reading New Contributor
Why should one engage in non-Western philosophical ideas? Two examples
A few days back, I discussed (here) why one should test one’s logical hypotheses against something alien, be it a Medieval paradox or a Sanskrit text (or anything in between). Today, I came back to the same thought while reading Continue reading Why should one engage in non-Western philosophical ideas? Two examples