Fall 2005

ANS 384 • Philosophies of India

Course Description

This is a graduate-level introduction to classical Indian philosophies and philosophic inquiries. No prior acquaintance with Indian thought will be presupposed. The course is an opportunity to learn the principal systems and views of arguably the greatest non-Western tradition of philosophy (c. 150 - 1700+). Long-running debates occur in epistemology and metaphysics in particular. Schools to be reviewed include Logic-Atomism (which has an externalist epistemology and views about defeaters defeating prima facie epistemic warrant), Illusionist Absolutism (Advaita Veda-nta), Buddhist Skepticism (Na-ga-rjuna et al.), Buddhist Idealism, Yoga, and perhaps one school of Indian theism. We shall also look closely at certain topics, issues, and arguments debated across schools, such as the ethics of non-injury (ahim. sa-), meaning (denotative, metaphoric, and suggestive, dhvani ), sources of knowledge (perception, inference, testimony, postulation, as well as a couple of candidates that most schools reject), universals and particulars (in particular Buddhist nominalism versus certain realist ontologies), the self and personal identity, and aesthetic experience (rasa). At the beginning we shall take a brief look at selections from early religious classics, such as Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gi-ta-, and Sermons of the Buddha.

Texts

J. N. Mohanty, Classical Indian Philosophy Selections from various classical texts and secondary sources, to be determined.

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