“Agents of Unending Change: A Buddhist Approach to Identity” by Jonathan C. Gold, Princeton

Hi all! I want to invite you to a virtual talk, which I co-organized, by Jonathan C. Gold, Associate Professor of Religion at Princeton University on Friday, 13 November 2020, 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM EST (GMT-5) Abstract: Buddhist thought provides Continue reading “Agents of Unending Change: A Buddhist Approach to Identity” by Jonathan C. Gold, Princeton

Three Debts and Five Sacrifices

My last two posts focused on some of the considerations that the dharmasūtra authors cite in support of the householder āśrama. As I mentioned, the householder’s payment of the three debts is central to these considerations. In this post, I Continue reading Three Debts and Five Sacrifices

Maṇḍana’s intellectual theory of motivation

Maṇḍana’s thesis is an answer to the problem of how to identify the core of a prescription. What makes people undertake actions? Kumārila’s śabdabhāvanā theory and Prabhākara’s kāryavāda had already offered their answers. Maṇḍana expands on Kumārila’s intuition about human Continue reading Maṇḍana’s intellectual theory of motivation

Because Time is not Self : On Ānandajñāna’s refutation of Kāla, A guest post by Satyan Sharma

Submitted to the blog by Satyan Sharma, Research scholar at the department of Sanskrit, Panjab University, (sharma.satyan@ymail.com) Because Time is not Self : On Ānandajñāna’s refutation of Kāla Abstract The conversation between Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika (NV) and Advaita Vedānta (AV) philosophers attract Continue reading Because Time is not Self : On Ānandajñāna’s refutation of Kāla, A guest post by Satyan Sharma

The Householder Debates in the Dharmasūtras: Another Solution

In a post here last week, I argued for an initial puzzle in the dharmasūtras of Āpastamba and Vasiṣṭha. Both authors argue that the four āśramas are equally legitimate. Their arguments for the importance of the householder, however, seem to Continue reading The Householder Debates in the Dharmasūtras: Another Solution

Natural and Artificial Intelligence, and Consciousness, Part II

The Indian tradition is replete with modeling of human experience. In the previous post I discussed how Sāṃkhya’s model of mind, body, and consciousness might be used to rethink the conceptualization of evolutionary theory and neuroscience. I argued that the Continue reading Natural and Artificial Intelligence, and Consciousness, Part II

The Householder Debates in the Dharmasūtras: An Initial Puzzle

The Householder Debates in the Dharmasūtras: An Initial Puzzle The dharmasūtras of Gautama and Baudhāyana argue that only the householder is legitimate. Āpastamba and Vasiṣṭha, in contrast, argue against the claim that the householder is less legitimate than the other Continue reading The Householder Debates in the Dharmasūtras: An Initial Puzzle