A19-313  

Theme: Topics in Indian Philosophy: Perception, Logic, and Embodiment  

Saturday, 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM  

Hyatt Regency-Capitol 2 (Fourth Level)  

Lynna Dhanani, University of California, Davis, Presiding  

This session brings together three papers on diverse topics from across a millennium of Indian philosophy. The first paper discusses the relationship between philosophy of language and philosophy of perception in the works of Maṇḍana Miśra (8th c.), focusing on his distinctive claim that error leads to truth. The second offers an analysis of Śrīharṣa’s (12th c.) view of tarka (“suppositional reasoning”) and its relevance to theory choice, arguing that Śrīharṣa should not be read as a skeptic. The third paper draws attention to the epics as sites for theological discourse, focusing on early modern (17th and 18th c.) Vedāntic commentaries on the Rāmāyaṇa and Mahābhārata and their treatment of divine embodiment. 

Eliot Davenport, University of Virginia  

When Elephants Become Trees: Perception in the Brahmasiddhi and Sphoṭasiddhi of Maṇḍana Miśra  

Nilanjan Das, University of Toronto  

Śrīharṣa on Tarka and Theory Choice  

Vishal Sharma, University of Oxford  

“As if Embodied”: Reading the Sanskrit Epics in the Age of Vedanta  

A20-216  

Theme: Kumārila on the Intrinsic Validity of Cognitions: A Philosophical Roundtable  

Sunday, 12:30 PM - 2:30 PM  

Hyatt Regency-Granite C (Third Level)  

Parimal G. Patil, Harvard University, Presiding  

What makes a cognition valid, justified, or true? This roundtable will focus on one of the most important treatments of this question in classical Indian philosophy: Kumārila’s argument for svataḥ-prāmāṇya, or the “intrinsic validity” of cognitions, at Śloka-vārttika II.33-61. Participants will explore and debate the merits of several different interpretations of Kumārila’s argument by later Mīmāṃsakas as well as by Vedāntins. The goal of this format is to create a space for lively and rigorous discussion, rather than traditional paper presentations. A handout with the original Sanskrit and an English translation of selections from Kumārila’s text will be provided. 

Panelists

John Taber, University of New Mexico  

Lawrence McCrea, Cornell University  

Elisa Freschi, University of Toronto  

Michael Allen, University of Virginia  

Business Meeting

Michael Allen, University of Virginia, Presiding  

Parimal G. Patil, Harvard University, Presiding 

A21-416  

Co-sponsored session: Hindu Philosophy Unit and Sikh Studies Unit  

Theme: Roundtable on Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair's Sikh Philosophy: Exploring Gurmat Concepts in a Decolonizing World (Bloomsbury, 2022) 

Monday, 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM  

Convention Center-301 (Street Level)  

Puninder Singh, University of Michigan, Presiding  

Sikh philosophy has typically, when it has been discussed at all, been subsumed within the ambit of area studies or religious studies. More particularly it has usually only been discussed in the context of other religions/philosophies of South Asia, especially the Vedic/Hindu or the Sufi. This roundtable aims to bring together a group of scholars to discuss a new book on Sikh Philosophy that addresses this lacuna by going beyond its usual confines of area studies or solely religious studies paradigms. Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair’s Sikh Philosophy: Exploring gurmat Concepts in a Decolonizing World (Bloomsbury, 2022) aims to bring Sikh philosophy into engagement with a wider sphere, that of global philosophies. Sensitive to both the historical formation of Sikh thought, and to the decolonial context, the book examines some of the key concepts of Sikh philosophy and how they inform its vision of life. 

Panelists

Jeffery D. Long, Elizabethtown College  

Ananda Abeysekara, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University  

Monika Kirloskar-Steinbach, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam  

Rita Dhamoon, University of Victoria  

Responding

Arvind Mandair, University of Michigan