Nature in Indian thought
Is “nature” a thing out there? Will we find possible translations of it in each language?
Category Archives: Indian Philosophical Schools
On the very idea of Buddhist ethics
I’ve recently been reading Christopher Gowans’s Buddhist Moral Philosophy: An Introduction. It is an introductory textbook of a sort that has not previously been attempted, and one that becomes particularly interesting in the light of David Chapman’s critiques of Buddhist Continue reading On the very idea of Buddhist ethics
Daṇḍin and the Philosophy of Poetics
I’m taking a cue from Malcolm’s contention that the tradition of poetics (alaṅkāraśāstra) can and should be brought into “philosophical” conversations. And since I recently attended a workshop in Jerusalem (organized by Yigal Bronner, David Shulman, and Charles Hallisey) devoted Continue reading Daṇḍin and the Philosophy of Poetics
Inclusion on the APA Blog
Our very own Anand Vaidya has two recent blog posts on the new Blog of the American Philosophical Association. The first post, “The Inclusion Problem in the Philosophy of Mind: The Case of Dualism,” looks at ways to include non-Western Continue reading Inclusion on the APA Blog
Spoken Sanskrit and Daṇḍin
Over at the Language Log, Victor Mair has a post about spoken Sanskrit at the recent international workshop, “A Lasting Vision: Daṇḍin’s Mirror in the World of Asian Letters”. The workshop itself may be of interest to readers of this Continue reading Spoken Sanskrit and Daṇḍin
Why focussing on the textual basis of the Seśvaramīmāṃsā by Vedānta Deśika: An easy introduction for lay readers
In the first post of this series, I discussed the importance of studying Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta through the work of Veṅkaṭanātha. This post focusses on the importance of a specific work by Veṅkaṭanātha, namely his Seśvaramīmāṃsā (henceforth SM).
End of the year balances
Dear readers and co-bloggers, in the last months, I thought again and again about what we could do as a “end of the year” blogpost. I wondered whether we should list here our publications (you are welcome to do it Continue reading End of the year balances
Why studying Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta through Veṅkaṭanātha: An introduction for lay readers
The Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta is a philosophical and theological school active chiefly in South India, from the last centuries of the first millennium until today and holding that the Ultimate is a personal God who is the only existing entity and Continue reading Why studying Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta through Veṅkaṭanātha: An introduction for lay readers
Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy 2015
As promised, this (a bit belated) post summarizes some talks from the October 2015 Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy in Monterey, CA. To keep the post brief, I’m choosing to discuss only those SACP talks which I attended, have Continue reading Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy 2015
Unchaste literature and the “social aesthetic”
Satyanarayana asked a very interesting question a while back. Literature (kāvya) was widely believed to be a kind of moral education, even if it “seduces us like a lover” (kāntasaṃmitatayā); other types of texts, namely scripture (śāstra) and sacred lore Continue reading Unchaste literature and the “social aesthetic”