A group blog of scholars exploring Indian philosophy
One of the many things I’ve been learning from the special issue of South Asian History and Culture called Discipline, Sect, Lineage and Community is that 16th-century intellectuals like Vyāsatīrtha and Appayya Dīkṣita had an unprecented awareness not just of Continue reading The Appayya One-Two
The seventh and eighth centuries were, as Jean-Marie Verpoorten said, a “Golden Age” for Mīmāṃsā, when the two most important exponents of the system, Kumārila and Prabhākara, lived. But it was also a “Golden Age” for other systems. It was Continue reading Untangling the Golden Age
Evan Thompson has kindly alerted us to a very interesting development, the Open Mind project, which just went live: http://open-mind.net. From the “About” page: This is an edited collection of 39 original papers and as many commentaries and replies. . . Continue reading The Open Mind Project
As frequently observed, free will was not a main topic in Indian philosophy, and discussions about it need rather to be looked for either at partly unexpected places (e.g., within logical discussions about agency) or in texts which are not Continue reading Free will in Rāmānuja
A philosopher might end up having a double affiliation, to the philosophical standpoints shared by one’s fellow philosophers, and to the religious program of one’s faith. This can lead to difficult reinterpretations (such as that of Christ with the Neoplatonic Continue reading Ontology is a moot point if you are a theist
(You have probably already encountered Patrick on this blog, but in case you did not, his Academia page is here —be sure to check all the bibliographical tools. The following text is part of an email conversation between the two Continue reading What is the relationship between Advaita Vedānta and bhakti? A guest post by Patrick S. O’ Donnell
When, where and how did bhakti become acceptable within the Indian intellectual élites?
In general, classical Indian philosophers tend to define śarīra ‘body’ as a tool for experience (bhogasādhana). Thus, most philosophers state that plants only seem to have bodies because of our anthropomorphic tendencies, which make us believe that they function like Continue reading What is a body? Veṅkaṭanātha on plants, rocks, and deities
In the world-view of a fundamental Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta teacher like Vedānta Deśika (1269–1370, aka Veṅkaṭanātha), theology is the center of the system and epistemology and ontology assume their role and significance only through their relationship with this center.
After the IABS, I realised that there were several authors of this blog there, and perhaps even more readers, and that we could have decided to have at least a coffee together. Thus, I thought that we could start sharing Continue reading Which conferences are on the horizon?