[INDOLOGY] Obituary: Prof. J.L. Shaw (1941-2025)

[Omkar Supekar]

Dear friends,

It is with a heavy heart that I share the passing of Prof. J. L. Shaw
<https://www.wgtn.ac.nz/news/2025/01/esteemed-comparative-philosopher-honoured-at-victoria-university>
(Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand). At 5:28 AM on Friday, 29
August 2025, he peacefully passed away in his sleep, surrounded by his
family as they prayed over him. His journey with cancer, which began some
time ago, defied initial expectations, and we were grateful for the
additional time he gave us. However, in recent weeks, his health
deteriorated rapidly.

Prof. J. L. Shaw was an esteemed scholar and academic. He was a Fulbright
PhD recipient from Rice University, Texas, and had been a faculty member at
Victoria University of Wellington since 1970 until his retirement in 2015.
His contributions to the field of Indian and Western Philosophy will
forever resonate with those who had the privilege of working with him. He
has written & edited 15 books and presented around 200 papers at
conferences or seminars in several countries. He has also received around
130 funded invitations from institutions or universities around the world
and directed orientation courses on comparative philosophy. In 1993, he
represented New Zealand at the World Parliament of Religions in Calcutta.
Dr Shaw is also the founding member of several societies, including the
Society for Philosophy and Culture, a society dedicated to cross-cultural
and cross-disciplinary debate and discussion at Victoria University, which
has now been running for 20 years, with branches in three countries.
Through the profits from Dr Shaw’s books, the Society has provided
scholarships to Master’s students at the University. Two international
conferences have been organised on Dr Shaw’s philosophy, held in Kolkata,
India, in 2001 and 2008. Dr Shaw is the recipient of two Festschrifts. He
is the first New Zealand-based philosopher to be honoured with the
Festschrift Contemporary Philosophy and J.L. Shaw (2006). He is also one of
only two New Zealand-based scholars honoured with a Festschrift, with
Comparative Philosophy and J.L. Shaw (2015), published by Springer. I was
fortunate to study with him in 2023 as part of a two-month residential
workshop in New Zealand on the theme 'The Relevance of Indian Philosophy to
Contemporary Western Philosophy
<https://indiannewslink.co.nz/workshop-falsifies-rudyard-kiplings-claim-prof-shaw/>',
followed by another seven-day workshop in 2024 at the Center for
Indological Studies and Research, Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture. I
could continue my studies and research with Dr. Shaw till his last breath.
Dr. Shaw's absence is deeply felt.


Books by Prof. J.L. Shaw (PS: Research papers are not included.)


   1.

   Mind, Body and Self, co-edited volume, Springer (2024).
   2.

   The Collected Writings of Jaysankar Lal Shaw: Indian Analytic and
   Anglophone Philosophy, Bloomsbury, London, 2016.
   3.

   The Relevance of Indian Philosophy to Contemporary Western Philosophy,
   The R.

K. Mission Institute of Culture, Kolkata, 2022.

   4.

   Logic and Metaphysics, J. L. Shaw, edited by D. L. Oxtoby, McMaster
   University, Canada, E-book, Amazon, 2014.
   5.

   Meaning and Identity: An Interdisciplinary Perspective, co-edited
   volume, Punthi

Pustak, Kolkata, 2014.

   6.

   Human Beings and Freedom: An Interdisciplinary Approach, co-edited
   volume,

Punthi Pustak, Kolkata, 2011.

   7.

   Knowledge, Belief and Doubt: Some Contemporary Problems and their
   Solutions

from the Nyāya Perspective, Asian Studies Institute, Victoria University of

Wellington, New Zealand, 2007.

   8.

   Causality and Its Application: Sāṃkhya, Bauddha and Nyāya, Punthi Pustak,

Calcutta, 2005.

   9.

   Swami Vivekananda as a Philosopher, The R. K. Mission Institute of
   Culture,

Calcutta, 2004.

   10.

   Some Logical Problems Concerning Existence, Punthi Pustak, Calcutta,
   2003.
   11.

   The Nyāya on Meaning: A Commentary on Pandit Visvabandhu, Punthi Pustak,

Calcutta, 2003.

   12.

   Cognition of Cognition: A Commentary on Pandit Visvabandhu, The R. K.
   Mission

Institute of Culture, 1998.

   13.

   Concepts of Knowledge: East and West, co-edited volume, The R. K. Mission

Institute of Culture, 2000.

   14.

   Vedānta: Concepts and Application, co-edited volume, The R. K. Mission
   Institute

of Culture, 2000.

   15.

   Analytical Philosophy in Comparative Perspective, edited by J L Shaw and
   B. K.

Matilal, D. Reidel Publishing Company, Holland, 1985..



Omkar Supekar

Research Scholar (Philosophy)

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay
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