Spread the word! Second Vienna Summer School on the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia: Classical Sanskrit Texts on Epistemology (3–8 July 2023), jointly organized by the University of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. #IndianPhilosophy#SanskritStudies
The third issue of the open access journal "Prajñākaragupta Studies" is out, published by a research group on P. in Japan. This journal makes a continuous effort to improve our understanding of a significant 8th century Indian Buddhist epistemologist who left us one single work (of massive proportions) that is challenging on so many levels.
@jayarava I think that a number of tools for language and textual analysis are available (or being developed) that allow us to address questions we wouldn't have been able to address otherwise. People like Oliver Hellwig or Nathan Hill wo have longer experience developing and working with computational methods also have published papers with new insights. But it depends on what kind of knowledge precisely you expect them to produce (and what, frankly, you believe "we" already know).
"Advanced computational methods for studying Buddhist texts", hybrid symposium in Vienna, 27-28 April 2023 (co-hosted by Univ. Vienna and OEAW, with support of ERC TibSchol at OEAW). Organized by Rachael Griffiths, Patrick McAllister and Markus Viehbeck.
Bei manchen Vertreter*innen der interkulturellen Philosophie habe ich den Eindruck, ihnen wäre nicht bewusst, was in z.B. asienbezogenen Fächern wie Indologie oder Buddhismusstudien über Philosophiegeschichte Asiens geforscht wird -- und auch nicht, dass es einen anglophonen Diskurs (zwischen USA, UK und Europa v.a.) über globale Philosophie gibt -- der sich freilich nicht aus einem dezidiert "interkulturellen" Ansatz speist?
Saddened to learn of Patrick French's passing, even more so as I only got to meet him virtually (while he was Dean at Ahmedabad University) and had been hoping to eventually meet him in person.
Fresh from the press: Liu Zhen / Johannes Schneider: "Buddhist Hymns : A New Collection", including for the first time edited the Sanskrit texts of Jambhalastotra, Deśanāstava and Viśeṣastava. Details and open access download: https://verlag.oeaw.ac.at/en/product/buddhist-hymns/99200895
Honoured to be on the board of directors of the new FWF-funded Cluster of Excellence "EurAsian Transformations -- Resources of the Past and Challenges of Diversity", one of the two humanities clusters that were approved. Thanks to all involved!
When you talk to analytic epistemologists about Dharmakīrti and they say "wow, I had no idea these kinds of problems were dealt with in India already by the 7th century" -- that's a little progress towards a more balanced picture of a global history of philosophy, I guess.
"Seeing and Understanding the World Differently", Ringvorlesung at University of Zurich. Details: https://www.uzh.ch/cmsssl/en/outreach/events/rv/2023fs/uzh-i-world.html. I have the honour of participating live in a panel discussion on March 9th, discussing rationality and reasons with the philosopher Anne Meylan (moderator: Raji Steineck); my input will draw on themes from Indian Buddhist philosophy.
They changed the headline of the story, #bookhistory nerds, but kept the argument. It’s a world full of used books, and we need to answer the basic question: how to do with books in a material world? Personally, I do like the "cult of book ownership" phrase.
Numata Chair Lecture at IKGA (@oeaw) today: Tawni Tidwell, "Life Suspended in Death: On Studying the Tibetan Buddhist Tukdam Practice". 5pm-6:30 CET, on site and online. Exploring how to integrate perspectives on life and its end from Euroamerican biomedicine, Tibetan medicine and Buddhist thought traditions.
Trying to understand the history of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy, looking closely at (Sanskrit) manuscripts, digging deep into texts. Based at the Austrian Academy of Sciences.