In praise of cultural appropriation
Jay Garfield, Bryan Van Norden, and most of my colleagues here on the Indian Philosophy Blog are shamelessly committing massive acts of cultural appropriation. Perhaps I am too. And that’s a wonderful thing.
Category Archives: Relations among Traditions
Preliminary thoughts on divine omnipresence
Within the paradigm of rational theology (in my jargon, God-as-Lord or Īśvara), can God have a form and a body?… Do They need one? Possible arguments in favour of Their having a body: —Yes! They need it to exercise Their Continue reading Preliminary thoughts on divine omnipresence
Perennial nondualism
I have spent a good deal of time criticizing the idea of a “perennial philosophy”, the idea (expressed by Ken Wilber and others before him) that the great sages of the world have always basically agreed on the really important Continue reading Perennial nondualism
Resolving cliffhangers in a book
For some time now I have realized: it is time for me to write a book. It’s time to take ideas that I have circulated in blog-post form and develop them into a more systematic, coherent constructive argument. It has Continue reading Resolving cliffhangers in a book
Karma: eschatology, theodicy, or eudaimonism?
In my previous post I discussed how Evan Thompson and I may agree in principle that not all innovations to a tradition are legitimate. The real question, then, is how applicable the accusation of cherry-picking (or shopping cart) is in Continue reading Karma: eschatology, theodicy, or eudaimonism?
On delusions and their pragmatic efficacy
Continuing my response to Seth Segall, my greatest disagreements are with his second point. So I will begin by quoting that at length: As a hospital pastoral care provider I minister to patients of all faiths, and I have been Continue reading On delusions and their pragmatic efficacy
Why I am a Buddhist
On Facebook, Seth Segall commented in response to my posts on Evan Thompson: I agree with all the arguments you have made, but I think there is one maining major issue that divides you from Evan that transcends all the Continue reading Why I am a Buddhist
Naturalizing Buddhism and other traditions
In the previous three posts I aimed to show, contra Evan Thompson’s response, that the philosophical core of the karma doctrine does not have to do with explaining why bad things happen to good people, but rather with how good Continue reading Naturalizing Buddhism and other traditions
On the challenging aspects of tradition
Evan Thompson has made a wonderfully detailed response to my earlier two posts that critique his stimulating Why I Am Not A Buddhist. It is a dialogue I am excited to continue. First a logistical note: I have a great Continue reading On the challenging aspects of tradition
Post-Doc Fellowships in Global Philosophy of Religion
We received from Yujin Nagasawa (via Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad): I am starting a new Templeton-funded project called the Global Philosophy of Religion (https://www.global-philosophy.org/). The aim of the project is to promote research involving philosophers of religion from all religious traditions and Continue reading Post-Doc Fellowships in Global Philosophy of Religion