A group blog of scholars exploring Indian philosophy
Malcolm has kindly alerted the Blog about the spate of recent 3AM Magazine interviews with philosophers who focus on India. But humility has likely prevented him from noting his own. So I am happy to do so. Please find the interview here: https://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/indian-philosophy-of-language/ There Continue reading 3AM Interview with Malcolm Keating
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)
Those looking to expand their teaching or research repertoire may consider this excellent list of readings compiled by Brian van Norden.
I continue my argument from last time dissenting from Maria Heim and Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad’s interpretation of Buddhaghosa. I turn to a second passage that Heim and Ram-Prasad use – incorrectly, in my view – to claim Buddhaghosa is not trying Continue reading Buddhaghosa on seeing things as they are (2)
Anyone who is familiar with premodern Indian philosophy written in Sanskrit knows that philosophers were not above using insults in their work. J.M. Verpoorten (2002) has a paper collecting these insults, which include akṛta-buddhi (having an unformed mind), paśu (animal, Continue reading Insults, Slurs, and Other Pejorative Speech
(I received the following post from Sikander Gilani, who is a Philosophy PhD student at Austin. They will surely be happy to read your questions or feedback below.) Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika holds that there are self substances that bear psychological properties and Continue reading Nyāya on selves (A guest post by Sikander Gilani)
Earlier this year I examined the classic Pali Milindapañhā dialogue and its claim that while one can speak of oneself as a “convention” (vohāra), ultimately (paramattha) a person is not found. I referred in passing to the Visuddhimagga (Path of Continue reading Buddhaghosa on seeing things as they are (1)
Friends, I am looking for your thoughts on the following question. I teach a course on Indian philosophy as part of my own course rotation, and as a rule, I frame most of the major subdivisions of the course according Continue reading What about the other three puruṣārthas?