A group blog of scholars exploring Indian philosophy
A new issue of Sophia has been published (volume 57, Issue 3, September 2018), with the special theme The Challenge of Postcolonial Philosophy in India: Too Alien for Contemporary Philosophers, Too Modern for Sanskritists? The issue editors are Elise Coquereau-Saouma and our Continue reading Special issue of Sophia devoted to postcolonial Indian philosophy
The Mīmāṃsā school of Indian philosophy started as an atheist school since its first extant text, Jaimini’s Mīmāṃsā Sūtra. At a certain point in its history, however, it reinterpreted its atheist arguments as aiming only at a certain conception of Continue reading Bhavanātha and the move towards theistic Mīmāṃsā
It is not especially controversial to say that ethics is a branch of philosophy. I’ve occasionally heard people dispute that claim, but mostly on the grounds that ethics extends beyond philosophy per se, to narrative and the like; few would Continue reading “Indian philosophy” vs. “Buddhist ethics”
Another interview at 3AM (previously: 1, 2, 3, 4) with philosophers working in Indian thought, this time with William Edelglass at Marlboro College, Vermont. The interview covers a lot of ground–including his arguments that Buddhist thinkers are best understood as Continue reading 3AM interview with William Edelglass
The 3AM magazine continues with its new series (1, 2, 3) of interviews of philosophers working in Indian thought, in an interview with Ramkrishna Bhattacharya (at the Pavlov Institute, Kolkata) about his work on Cārvāka. In this interview, Bhattacharya discusses the Continue reading 3AM interview with Ramkrishna Bhattacharya
Ayon Maharaj, Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion, New York: Oxford University Press, 350 pages, 978-0-19-086823-9. The book will be published on October 1, 2018. For more details and a pre-order discount, please Continue reading Book announcement: Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality by Ayon Maharaj
My project on disengaged Buddhism has now been submitted to a journal. It’s undergone several revisions by this point. One of the most important such revisions was suggested unanimously by BU’s magnificent CURA seminar. In an earlier draft had attempted Continue reading The psychological case for disengaged Buddhism
One of the main advantages of dealing with worldviews other than the one you grew up in is the fact that you are exposed to doubts and alternatives. One of such cases regards the nebulous category of religion (to which Continue reading Alternative theisms and atheisms (part 1)
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)