Buddhist Philosophy and Its Critics: An Anthology of South Asian Sources
Apr
21
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Henry R. Luce Hall
34 Hillhouse Avenue, New Haven CT, 06511
Room 203
Organized by Sonam Kachru (in consultation with Charles Goodman and Malcolm Keating).
In the guise of a workshop exploring a draft of a new book, Buddhist Philosophy and its Critics: An Anthology of South Asian Sources by Charles Goodman and Malcolm Keating, we offer a rare treat: the chance to taste the fruits of a premodern analytic culture.
The Buddhist philosophical tradition of South Asia developed through constant exchanges, disagreements, and even formal public debates. Along with their interlocutors, Buddhist philosophers constituted a remarkably long-lived and vibrant culture and ethos of inquiry and argument. It should be studied with this dialectic in mind. Yet, to date, most introductory readers for philosophy undergraduates present Buddhist philosophers in isolation from their interlocutors.
Buddhist Philosophy and its Critics: An Anthology of South Asian Sources is a new volume of translations into lucid, contemporary English, including both Buddhist and non-Buddhist perspectives, thematically organized to show how these authors responded to each other and how the ideas of these entwined traditions stimulated each other’s development and increasing sophistication over time. It includes new English translations intended for a philosophical audience, ranging over topics in metaphysics and epistemology including personal identity, perception, mereology, and causation.
Over two days, philosophers specializing in contemporary and premodern areas, and working in a number of different traditions, will meet to discuss the translations, arguments, and concepts put forward in this volume, to better appreciate what it means to pursue philosophy in translation; the conversations which made Buddhist philosophy, and how to extend those conversations to enrich a contemporary philosophical landscape.
Co-sponsored by South Asian Studies Council at Yale and Glorisun Global Buddhist Network
Schedule
Monday, April 21st |
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9:30 - 10:30 AM | Opening Keynote by Malcolm Keating (Smith College) - "Translating for the Undergraduate Philosophy Classroom" |
Topic 1: Epistemology |
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10:30 AM | Jonathan Gold (Princeton University) - Dharmakīrti’s Epitome of Reasoning (Nyāyabindu) with excerpts from Dharmottara’s commentary (Nyāyabinduṭīkā) |
10:45 AM | Nilanjan Das (University of Toronto) - Jayanta Bhaṭṭa’s Flower Garland of Reasoning (Nyāyamañjarī) |
11:00 AM | Open discussion |
Topic 2: Personal Identity |
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1:00 PM | Matthew Dasti (Bridgewater University) - Uddyotakara’s Extensive Commentary on Nyāya (Nyāyavārttika) ad NS 3.1.1 |
1:15 PM | Open discussion |
Topic 3: Mereology & Universals Part A |
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3:00 PM | Trenton Merricks (University of Virginia) - “Vasubandhu on Atoms, Wholes, and the Destruction of Worlds,” translated from Abhidharmakośabhāṣya ad. III.99 |
3:15 PM | Open discussion |
4:15 - 5:15 PM | Day 1 Closing Keynote by Charles Goodman (Binghamton University - SUNY) |
Tuesday, April 22nd |
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Graduate student panel, “Reading, Translating, and Teaching Sanskrit Philosophers” |
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9:30 AM | Individual panelists; Vanna Qing (Yale University), Audrey Guilbault (University of Chicago), Sagar Rao (Princeton University), Sathvik Rayala (Harvard University), Angela Vettikkal (Yale University) |
10:15 AM | Panel responses and open discussion |
Topic 5: Mereology & Universals Part B |
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11:00 AM | Larry McCrea (Cornell University) - Kumārila Bhaṭṭa, “The Doctrine of the Forest” (vanavāda) in the Commentary in Verse (Ślokavārttika), with commentary from Pārthasārathi’s Jewel Mine of Reasoning (Nyāyaratnākara) |
11:15 AM | Jan Westerhoff (Oxford University) - Dharmakīrti, Epitome of Reasoning (Nyāyabindu) chapter 1, with selections from the commentary Nyāyabinduṭīkā by Dharmottara |
11:30 AM | Open discussion |
Topic 6: Causation Part A |
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1:30 PM | Allison Aitken (Columbia University) - Vasubandhu, Abhidharmakośabhāṣya ad. IV.1-4 |
1:45 PM | Laura Guerrero (William & Mary) - Uddyotakara, Nyāyavārttika ad NS 3.2.10–14 |
2:00 PM | Open discussion |
Topic 7: Causation Part B |
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3:00 PM | Michael della Rocca (Yale University) - “The Doctrine of No Percepts” vv.1-83, from the Commentary in Verses (Ślokavārttika) of Kumārila Bhaṭṭa with Pārthasārathi Miśra’s subcommentary, the Jewel Mine of Reasoning (Nyāyaratnākara) |
3:15 PM | Aleksandar Uskokov (Yale University) - Śaṅkara’s Critique of Buddhist Views on Causation: Brahma Sūtras II.2.20–24 and 26–27, from the “Chapter on Collections,” with commentary by Ācārya Śaṅkara |
3:30 PM | Open discussion |
5:00 PM | Closing Roundtable Discussion |
- Humanity