The physics of emptiness

How can we reconcile Buddhism with expressive individualism (“be yourself”) and with natural science? When I had previously turned to Wilfrid Sellars for help on this question, I had compared Sellars’s view to two Buddhist metaphysical positions on ultimate truth, Continue reading The physics of emptiness

The scientific self is not reductionist

Any serious contemporary Buddhist intellectual needs to think through the connection between Buddhist ideas and the relevant claims of natural science. Many of us, too, are expressive individualists: we believe that there is something valuable in the project of discovering Continue reading The scientific self is not reductionist

Job Ad: Associate or Full Professor in Classical Indian Philosophy at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa

The University of Hawai’i at Mānoa is hiring an Associate or Full Professor in Classical Indian Philosophy. Applications are due Dec. 2, 2024 for full consideration with a hard deadline of Jan. 13, 2025. More information, including instructions on how Continue reading Job Ad: Associate or Full Professor in Classical Indian Philosophy at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa

Finding mysticism in unexpected places

When I was in grad school, a big academic fashion was to heap scorn on the idea that mystical experience could be something cross-cultural: everything was reducible to social context, and the similarities of experience didn’t really matter, as I Continue reading Finding mysticism in unexpected places

Call for Papers: Special issue of Dewey Studies on “John Dewey’s Pragmatism and India: Pasts and Futures”

This CfP posted at the request of Scott Stroud, Professor of Communication Studies, University of Texas-Austin. John Dewey’s philosophy has had a global impact. Well known are the stories of his students from China such as Hu Shih and the Continue reading Call for Papers: Special issue of Dewey Studies on “John Dewey’s Pragmatism and India: Pasts and Futures”

Process Studies and South Asia Fellowship (applications due 30 June 2024)

Dr. Matthew LoPresti (Hawaii Pacific University) recently informed me of this fellowship opportunity, which is sponsored by the University of California, Irvine. A summary from the call for applications: The University of California, Irvine (UCI) Program in Religious Studies supports Continue reading Process Studies and South Asia Fellowship (applications due 30 June 2024)