A group blog of scholars exploring Indian philosophy
If you are the sort of person who reads comparative philosophy blogs, you probably remember the widely read New York Times article that Jay Garfield and Bryan Van Norden wrote two years ago, calling for the study of non-Western philosophies Continue reading Making the case for non-Western philosophy
My continuing dispute with Maria Heim and Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad, over the ideas of Buddhaghosa, now returns to where it began: the distinction between ultimate (paramattha) and conventional (sammuti or vohāra). Heim and Ram-Prasad admit that for some Buddhist traditions these Continue reading Buddhaghosa on seeing things as they are (3)
To my knowledge, Veṅkaṭanātha’s Seśvaramīmāṃsā (henceforth SM) has been commented upon only once in Sanskrit, namely in the 20th c. by Abhinava Deśika Vīrarāghavācārya. Vīrarāghavācārya continues Veṅkaṭanātha’s agenda in reinterpreting Mīmāṃsā tenets in a Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta way.
I continue my argument from last time dissenting from Maria Heim and Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad’s interpretation of Buddhaghosa. I turn to a second passage that Heim and Ram-Prasad use – incorrectly, in my view – to claim Buddhaghosa is not trying Continue reading Buddhaghosa on seeing things as they are (2)
At a certain point in the history of Mīmāṃsā (and, consequently, of Vedānta), the discussion of the reasons for undertaking the study of Mīmāṃsā becomes a primary topic of investigation. When did this exactly happen? The space dedicated to the Continue reading Why should one study the meaning of the Veda? I.e., why studying Mīmāṃsā? (It is hard to present your research program to the public)
(I received the following post from Sikander Gilani, who is a Philosophy PhD student at Austin. They will surely be happy to read your questions or feedback below.) Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika holds that there are self substances that bear psychological properties and Continue reading Nyāya on selves (A guest post by Sikander Gilani)
Earlier this year I examined the classic Pali Milindapañhā dialogue and its claim that while one can speak of oneself as a “convention” (vohāra), ultimately (paramattha) a person is not found. I referred in passing to the Visuddhimagga (Path of Continue reading Buddhaghosa on seeing things as they are (1)
In my previous post about the way the mind’s automatic processes get things wrong (and how that point is important to Buddhists), I turned to the experiments of Daniel Kahneman (and Amos Tversky) on false cognition. I claimed that the Continue reading Of psychological depths
A reader wrote me: I would like to know whether there is a similar term in Indian philosophy (sanskrit) for ‘Intelligence’. Can we equate it with the term prajñānam? The problem with such questions (I do not know about you, Continue reading Is there a Sanskrit word for “intelligence” (or any other word)?
As a proud alumna of the International Summer School for Jain Studies (ISSJS 6W) I share this announcement of its forthcoming 14th edition. The 6-Week program for Professors and Graduate Students in Delhi and Jaipur is scheduled for June 12th – July Continue reading Summer School: International Summer School for Jain Studies (ISSJS)