A group blog of scholars exploring Indian philosophy
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”
Christopher G. Framarin. Hinduism and Environmental Ethics: Law, literature, and philosophy. 192 pp. London and New York: Routledge. 2014. 140 USD. Hardcover [Book Review Editor’s Note: This book has previously been reviewed on this blog by Stephen Harris. See Harris’s Continue reading Book Review of Hinduism and Environmental Ethics by Christopher G. Framarin (Reviewed by Elisa Freschi)
Over at NDPR, Mark Siderits reviews The Moon Points Back, an edited volume by the Cowherds (Koji Tanaka, Yasuo Deguchi, Jay Garfield and Graham Priest). From the review: The papers illustrate the relative maturity and fruitfulness of a project that Garfield characterizes Continue reading The Moon Points Back: Review at NDPR
I published an essay about five and a half years ago on an alternative reading of Nāgārjuna’s MMK 24:18 (PEW 60:1) which was first disputed by Jay Garfield and Jan Westerhoff a year later (PEW 61:1) and then by Mattia Continue reading Another Attempt at Nāgārjuna’s MMK 24:18
[Cross-posted at Love of All Wisdom.] I was honoured to see Elisa Freschi’s post reviewing my recent article on Śāntideva’s metaphysics and ethics. I have a lot to say about both the post itself and the comment threads that followed Continue reading Reading the deconstruction of the body
I am pleased to announce the addition of a new contributor to our blog: Alex Watson. Our readers already read here his description of his current position at Ashoka University, so I can focus on what happened before that.
Jay L. Garfield. Engaging Buddhism: Why It Matters to Philosophy. xxii + 376 pp., index. NY: Oxford University Press, 2015. $29.95 (paperback). My job in reviewing this book is made much easier by something Garfield says early on: ‘Mark Siderits Continue reading Book Review of Engaging Buddhism: Why It Matters to Philosophy by Jay L. Garfield (Reviewed by Mark Siderits)
Several distinct component are constitutive of what we now know to be Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta and are not present at the time of Rāmānuja: 1. The inclusion of the Āḻvār’s theology in Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta 2. The Pāñcarātra orientation of both subschools Continue reading What happened at the beginnings of Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta?—Part 2
The starting point of the present investigation is the fact that between Rāmānuja and Veṅkaṭanātha a significant change appears to have occurred in the scenario of what was later known as Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta (the term is only found after Sudarśana Continue reading What happened at the beginnings of Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta?—Part 1