A group blog of scholars exploring Indian philosophy
Intercultural philosophy is based on a dialogue, i.e., not just on a sheer juxtaposition of monologues, since such a juxtaposition would not lead to any new result and both partners would not be able to gain anything out of it. Continue reading “Wrestling with the angel”
Continuing my response to Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad, I want to turn back now to the original point of contention with which our exchange first began: the role of conventional (sammuti/vohāra) and ultimate (paramattha) in Buddhaghosa’s thought. First and foremost, I am Continue reading Mere convention vs. seeing correctly
What to do with comparisons? They are always risky, insofar as one risks to style oneself as an impartial observer while being in fact part of the discussion. Hence, should not one avoid them altogether?
I am very pleased to announce that all five of the lectures from this year in Princeton’s “New Directions in Indian and Comparative Philosophy” series are now online. Please feel free to share the link to the series webpage: You Continue reading Indian Philosophy Lecture Series Videos Now Online
I now begin my responses to Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad on the thought of Buddhaghosa. Let me first reiterate a point I made early on: what I refuse is the interpretation that Buddhaghosa’s understanding of ultimate, conventional and the aggregates are merely Continue reading There is only name and form
In his book Hindu Ethics: A Philosophical Study (1998), Roy Perrett defends what he calls “Hindu ethics” against a range of contemporary western objections. In the second chapter of the book, entitled “Saints and the Supramoral,” Perrett develops an objection Continue reading Is the Karmayogin a Moral Saint?
A while ago, Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad made a thoughtful reply to the last of my post series on Buddhaghosa. I thank Ram-Prasad for that reply; I appreciate his willingness to engage with my rather cheeky attempt to reply to an article Continue reading The importance of reading Buddhaghosa closely
The Pacific Meeting of the American Philosophical Association (APA) is taking place this week (April 17-20) in Vancouver, Canada. You can find more information, including the schedule, here. There are two sessions focusing mainly on Indian philosophy. Wed. 9am-12pm APA Continue reading Pacific APA in Vancouver (April 17-20): Indian Philosophy and More
A recent post “On Eurocentrism” from Liam Bright on his blog The Sooty Empiric raises some interesting questions about the role of Eurocentrism in the study of non-Western philosophy. While Bright is not writing specifically about the study of Indian/South Asian Continue reading Bright on Eurocentrism
While not focused on Indian philosophy, the short article by Edith Hall notes that public-facing philosophy goes back to the roots of the Western tradition. She connects this with philosophy blogs nowadays, which is relevant for us. Most people do not realise Continue reading Edith Hall on Aristotle, public-facing philosophy, and blogs