English PhD program in Chinese Philosophy
Are you working on Chinese Philosophy or willing to work on it? It seems to be a good idea, better (unfortunately) than just specializing on Indian Philosophy.
Do we need to waste our time proving that unicorns do not exist?
Do we need to prove that unicorns, tooth fairies, hobbits and so on do not exist? The question is not just funny, insofar as an upholder of the existence of ghosts and the like could easily claim that —strictly speaking— there is no evidence of their non-existence. In Indian epistemology, this amounts to saying that there are no bādhakas ‘invalidating cognitions’ telling us that the existence of ghosts, etc. is invalid.
Is there really a single author of the Yogasūtra and Yogabhāṣya?
The idea that the Yogasūtra (henceforth YS) and the Yogabhāṣya (henceforth YBh) are not two distinct texts has been discussed for the first way in a systematic way by Johannes Bronkhorst in 1985 (“Patañjali and the Yoga Sūtras”, Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik). Philipp Maas in his published PhD thesis (Maas 2006) examined it again and Philipp Maas in his contribution to Eli Franco’s Periodization and Historiography of Indian Philosophy (2013) dealt with it again in greater detail.
Conference for Early Career Philosophers: CfP
Are you a young scholar working on philosophy? Perhaps you might enjoy a conference designed for cooperative enhancing your paper (instead of demolishing it).
किं स्वतः परतो वा प्रामाण्यम्?
किं प्रामाण्यं स्वतः, परतो वा उत्पद्यते, ज्ञायते च ?
सांख्यानां प्रामाण्याप्रामाण्यौ उभौ स्वतः । नैयायिकानां वैशेषिकानां च प्रामाण्याप्रामाण्यौ उभौ परतः । बौद्धप्रमाणवादिनां प्रामाण्यं परतः, अप्रमाण्यं तु स्वतः । मीमांसकानां तु प्रामाण्यं स्वतः, अप्रमाण्यं च परतः । इति चत्वारः पक्षाः ।
Let us organise more Saṃvādas! An Interview with Mrinal Kaul
I met Mrinal Kaul for the first time in December 2012, when he attended the Coffee Break Meeting on textual reuse in Indian Philosophical texts. Since then, I tried to have him collaborate to many of my projects, but always failed, since he is already very busy with incredibly many others. You can read his blog here and find out something more about him on his Academia page. Once you have done this, add much more Sanskrit than you would believe, imagine a smiling, funny face and you will still have only a vague idea of him.
Do you wish you had a job instead of Christmas presents? Check here!
The Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Old Dominion University (Norfolk, Virginia, USA) looks for a faculty member specializing in Asian Philosophy.
There is more than emic vs. etic: Madeleine Biardeau and the history of philosophy
Is the only alternative one faces while speaking about South Asia that between an etic (i.e., Western) and emic approach?
Which Sanskrit should we study and teach?
Should we study and teach Classical Sanskrit through examples from Classical literature only? Should we rather focus on Spoken Sanskrit? Are contemporary texts admissible?
Can a theist believe in God’s omniscience&omnipotence and in free will? Suppose God leaves us free because S/He wants us to be free, still, why does not S/He interfere with our choices when they would lead to the eternal absence of happiness? Read my thoughts here.