An interview with Anand Vaidya

Anand Vaidya is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Comparative Philosophy at San Jose State University, and one of this site’s bloggers. His work is in epistemology, philosophy of mind, and critical thinking–all of which he Continue reading An interview with Anand Vaidya

What counts as philosophy? On the normative disguised as descriptive UPDATED

As a scholar of Prābhākara Mīmāṃsā I am well aware of how the normative is often disguised as descriptive. “It is seven o’ clock” says the mother, but what she means is rather “Get up! You have to go to Continue reading What counts as philosophy? On the normative disguised as descriptive UPDATED

The subject as knower and doer in Yāmuna’s Ātmasiddhi

Opponents coming from the Advaita field figure often in Yāmuna’s Ātmasiddhi, which shows that even before Rāmānuja Vaiṣṇava authors were taking seriously the challenge of Advaita. Even more interesting is the way Yāmuna answers to them. Let us see some Continue reading The subject as knower and doer in Yāmuna’s Ātmasiddhi

Introduction to Philosophy and/or Philosophy of Mind

I am considering to co-teach a course with a philosopher at the University of Florida, one in which we’d look at Indian and Western writings on the same topics, e.g. mind, self, epistemology, etc. These interdisciplinary courses are given special Continue reading Introduction to Philosophy and/or Philosophy of Mind

Viśiṣṭādvaita and Nyāya on qualities

Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta authors claim that the whole world is made of the brahman and that everything else is nothing but a qualification of it/Him. This theological content, it will be immediately evident, crashes against the (Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika) idea of a rigidly Continue reading Viśiṣṭādvaita and Nyāya on qualities

Where is Philosophy?: A Response to Nicholas Tampio

Last week there was a call from political science professor Nicholas Tampio to narrowly define philosophy as a discipline responding either directly to Plato’s Republic or at least part of a self-consciously Socratic-Platonic tradition of inquiry.  I recommend reading Tampio’s essay, “Not Continue reading Where is Philosophy?: A Response to Nicholas Tampio

Philosophical commentaries in ancient India

Commentaries can be manifold in ancient India. They have different purposes and form, but they all share some characters: they have a given text as their main interlocutor/they are mainly about a given text like with Origene’s commentaries, they are Continue reading Philosophical commentaries in ancient India

Does it matter what we call Buddhist?

[Cross-posted at Love of All Wisdom.] Does it matter whether something is or isn’t Buddhist? Or whether it is “distinctively” Buddhist? I was asked these related questions in two blog discussions from last year, both involving Justin Whitaker. Justin raised Continue reading Does it matter what we call Buddhist?

Dialog across Traditions (part I)

(As a consequence of the discussion which took place here, Debajyoti Gangopadhyay updated the structure and concept of the “dialog” project.) Description: This Dialog mission is intended basically to make sense of a single question, which started getting shaped since Continue reading Dialog across Traditions (part I)