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Stephen Phillips has devoted his career to excavating some of the most valuable gems of Indian philosophy and bringing them into conversation with contemporary thought. This volume honors him and follows his lead by continuing his lifelong project: faithfully interpreting Sanskrit texts to think along with their authors about ideas that still perplex us today.
It features ten new essays focusing on epistemology, logic, and metaphysics from outstanding philosophers and scholars of Sanskrit philosophy, with contributions varying in methodology: both historical and cross-cultural. Further, in addition to essays on Ny¿ya and Advaita Ved¿nta, it engages with Navya-Ny¿ya ("new Ny¿ya"), an important but understudied part of Indian philosophy. Through these investigations, in conversation with Phillips's groundbreaking work, the contributors show the value of cross-cultural engagement for philosophical progress.
The Vindication of the World will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in Indian philosophy, comparative philosophy, and, more generally, epistemology, logic, and metaphysics.
List of contents
Introduction
Part 1: Early and Classical Indian Philosophy 1. Following Phillips's Lead: Fallacies, Critical Thinking, and Contemplation
Matthew Dasti and Malcolm Keating 2. Seven to One: Fusing Vai¿e¿ika's Categories with Abhidharma Ontology
Mark Siderits 3. Is Indian Epistemology Externalist?
John Taber 4. Udayana on the Indefinability of Distinctness
Nilanjan Das Part 2: Gäge¿a and Navya-Ny¿ya 5. Gäge¿a and the Gettier Problem
Joel Feldman 6. In Search of Certification
Anand Jayprakash Vaidya 7. Is Ny¿ya Disjunctivist? The Ontology of Illusion
Jonardon Ganeri 8. The Ny¿ya on Truth
J. L. Shaw Part 3: Advaita Ved¿nta 9. Metaphors for
M¿y¿: Philosophical Illustrations in ¿äkara's Advaita Ved¿nta
Neil Dalal 10. Phillips's Points and Padmap¿da's Possible Defense
Nirmalya Guha
About the author
Malcolm Keating is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Smith College, Massachusetts. He is the author of
Reason in an Uncertain World: Ny¿ya Philosophers on Argumentation and Living Well (2024),
Classical Sanskrit for Everyone: A Guide for Absolute Beginners (2024),
Language, Meaning, and Use in Indian Philosophy: Mukula Bhä¿a's Fundamentals of the Communicative Function (2019), and editor of
Controversial Reasoning in Indian Philosophy: Major Texts and Arguments on Arthâpatti (2020).
Matthew R. Dasti is Professor of Philosophy at Bridgewater State University. He is author of
V¿tsy¿yana's Commentary on the Ny¿ya-s¿tra: A Guide (2023) and, with Stephen Phillips, coauthor of
The Ny¿ya-s¿tra: Selections with Early Commentaries (2017) and
God and the World's Arrangement (2021). He is also the co-editor of
Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy (2014) and has published numerous articles in scholarly journals.
