ibn Sīnā and Śāntideva on the incompleteness of the world

Cross-posted at Love of All Wisdom. I’ve been thinking lately about MacIntyre’s explanation of the Muslim philosopher ibn Sīnā and the ways in which ibn Sīnā’s concept of God requires us to rethink the entire world around us if we Continue reading ibn Sīnā and Śāntideva on the incompleteness of the world

Upcoming talks on Buddhism in Utah April 21-22

Our own Amod Lele will be giving a talk at a conference organized by Pierre-Julien Harter at the University of Utah, on April 21-22. The other philosophers there, and their talks may also be of interest to readers of this Continue reading Upcoming talks on Buddhism in Utah April 21-22

A basic introduction to Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta_UPDATED

(I have been asked to write a short introduction to Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta and would like to test it on you, dear readers and fellow bloggers. Any comment or criticism would be more than welcome!) In its full-fledged form, the Viśiṣṭādvaita Continue reading A basic introduction to Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta_UPDATED

Bhakti in Rāmānuja: Continuities and changes of perspective

(The following is my attempt to make sense of Rāmānuja’s conceptions of bhakti. Comments and criticisms are welcome!) To Rāmānuja (traditional dates 1017–1137) are attributed, with more or less certainty, a series of Vedāntic works, namely the Śrī Bhāṣya (henceforth Continue reading Bhakti in Rāmānuja: Continuities and changes of perspective

God and realism. Marginal notes on a workshop in Hawai’i, part 2

Can God as the perfect omniscient knower guarantee the possibility of a reality disidentified from all local perspectives and thus independent of them, though remaining inherently intelligible (by God Himself)? It depends on how one understands God. As discussed already Continue reading God and realism. Marginal notes on a workshop in Hawai’i, part 2

Omniscience and realism: Marginal notes about a workshop in Hawai’i

A non-intelligible entity cannot be conceived to exist. But, if the world needs to be known in order to exist, we need to postulate a non-partial perspective out of which it can be known. Since the perspectives of all human Continue reading Omniscience and realism: Marginal notes about a workshop in Hawai’i

Latest issue of Synthese

Readers may be interested to know that the journal Synthese, which characterizes itself as “An International Journal for Epistemology, Methodology and Philosophy of Science”, is publishing an article about the Bhagavad Gītā and Spinoza, currently available under “Online first.” The journal Continue reading Latest issue of Synthese

Farewell to “Yavanayāna”

[Cross-posted on Love of All Wisdom.] Late last year I was delighted to see a post from Richard Payne retracting his earlier post on “White Buddhism”, motivated at least in part by my critique. It is all too rare to Continue reading Farewell to “Yavanayāna”

Book Review of An Introduction to Indian Philosophy by Roy W. Perrett (Reviewed by Matthew R. Dasti)

Roy W. Perrett. An Introduction to Indian Philosophy. 249pp. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016.  $34.99 (paperback). When introducing the wide-range of Indian philosophy to a new audience, there have been two major approaches: the schools approach and the topics approach. Continue reading Book Review of An Introduction to Indian Philosophy by Roy W. Perrett (Reviewed by Matthew R. Dasti)

Analytical Philosophy of Religion with Indian categories

As part of my attempts to go beyond my confort zone, Wednesday and Thursday last week I enjoyed two days of full immersion in the Analytical Philosophy of Religion. In fact, the conference I was attending was about the ontological Continue reading Analytical Philosophy of Religion with Indian categories