Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy
Price: 595.00 INR
ISBN:
9780190886837
Publication date:
03/01/2018
Paperback
336 pages
Price: 595.00 INR
ISBN:
9780190886837
Publication date:
03/01/2018
Paperback
336 pages
Edited by Matthew R. Dasti and Edwin F. Bryant
Rights: OUP USA (INDIAN TERRITORY)
Edited by Matthew R. Dasti and Edwin F. Bryant
Description
Led by Buddhists and the yoga traditions of Hinduism and Jainism, Indian thinkers have long engaged in a rigorous analysis and reconceptualization of our common notion of self. Less understood is the way in which such theories of self intersect with issues involving agency and free will; yet such intersections are profoundly important, as all major schools of Indian thought recognize that moral goodness and religious fulfillment depend on the proper understanding of personal agency. Moreover, their individual conceptions of agency and freedom are typically nodes by which an entire school's epistemological, ethical, and metaphysical perspectives come together as a systematic whole. Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy explores the contours of this issue, from the perspectives of the major schools of Indian thought. With new essays by leading specialists in each field, this volume provides rigorous analysis of the network of issues surrounding agency and freedom as developed within Indian thought.
About The Editors
Matthew R. Dasti is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Bridgewater State University.
Edwin F. Bryant is Professor of Hindu Religion and Philosophy at Rutgers University.
Contributors:
Edwin F. Bryant, Rutgers University
David Buchta, University of Pennsylvania
George Cardona, University of Pennsylvania
Christopher Key Chapple, Loyola Marymount University
Satyanarayana Dasa, Agra University
Matthew R. Dasti, Bridgewater State University
Jonathan Edelmann, Mississippi State University
Elisa Freschi, Austrian Academy of Sciences (IKGA, Vienna)
Martin Ganeri, University of London
Jay Garfield, Smith College
David Peter Lawrence, University of North Dakota
Karin Meyers, Rangjung Yeshe Institute
Sthaneshwar Timalsina, San Diego State University
Edited by Matthew R. Dasti and Edwin F. Bryant
Table of contents
Table of contents
Acknowledgments
Contributors
Introduction
Chapter 1 Agency in Samkhya and Yoga - Edwin F. Bryant
Chapter 2 Free Persons, Empty Selves - Karin Meyers
Chapter 3 Free Will and Voluntarism in Jainism - Christopher Key Chapple
Chapter 4 Paninian Grammarians on Agency and Independence - George Cardona
Chapter 5 Nyaya's Self as Agent and Knower - Matthew R. Dasti
Chapter 6 Freedom Because of Duty - Elisa Freschi
Chapter 7 Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose - Jay L. Garfield
Chapter 8 Self, Causation, and Agency in the Advaita of Sankara Sthaneshwar Timalsina
Chapter 9 The Linguistics and Cosmology of Agency in Nondual Kashmiri Saiva Thought
Chapter 10 Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Ramanuja - Martin Ganeri
Chapter 11 Dependent Agency and Hierarchical Determinism in the Theology of Madhva - David Buchta
Chapter 12 Agency in the Gaudiya Vaisnava Tradition - Satyanarayana Dasa and Jonathan B. Edelmann
Index
Edited by Matthew R. Dasti and Edwin F. Bryant
Features
- Examines the central schools and traditions of India from the perspective of agency and free will
Edited by Matthew R. Dasti and Edwin F. Bryant
Review
Reviews
"Questions about free will and agency have challenged and vexed the best philosophical-and theological-minds for millennia, yet the bulk of writing on the topic comes down to us from the intellectual traditions of the West. The erudite and insightful essays collected here help us to redress the imbalance, by concerted attention to the great intellectual traditions of India. No consensus on the age-old paradoxes emerges here, but these essays enable us to see more clearly what it means to be responsible ethical agents in the religious and political worlds we inhabit today." --Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University
"No other book considers such a diverse array of historical and theoretical issues about the nature of self, agency, and freedom of action across this broad a sweep of classical Indian thought. Authored by an impressive mix of rising young and renowned senior scholars, and written with rigor and clarity, it offers an insightful investigation into varied perspectives within Indian traditions and a fascinating and provocative alternative lens to Western understandings." --Andrew O. Fort, Professor of Asian Religions, Texas Christian University
Description
Led by Buddhists and the yoga traditions of Hinduism and Jainism, Indian thinkers have long engaged in a rigorous analysis and reconceptualization of our common notion of self. Less understood is the way in which such theories of self intersect with issues involving agency and free will; yet such intersections are profoundly important, as all major schools of Indian thought recognize that moral goodness and religious fulfillment depend on the proper understanding of personal agency. Moreover, their individual conceptions of agency and freedom are typically nodes by which an entire school's epistemological, ethical, and metaphysical perspectives come together as a systematic whole. Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy explores the contours of this issue, from the perspectives of the major schools of Indian thought. With new essays by leading specialists in each field, this volume provides rigorous analysis of the network of issues surrounding agency and freedom as developed within Indian thought.
About The Editors
Matthew R. Dasti is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Bridgewater State University.
Edwin F. Bryant is Professor of Hindu Religion and Philosophy at Rutgers University.
Contributors:
Edwin F. Bryant, Rutgers University
David Buchta, University of Pennsylvania
George Cardona, University of Pennsylvania
Christopher Key Chapple, Loyola Marymount University
Satyanarayana Dasa, Agra University
Matthew R. Dasti, Bridgewater State University
Jonathan Edelmann, Mississippi State University
Elisa Freschi, Austrian Academy of Sciences (IKGA, Vienna)
Martin Ganeri, University of London
Jay Garfield, Smith College
David Peter Lawrence, University of North Dakota
Karin Meyers, Rangjung Yeshe Institute
Sthaneshwar Timalsina, San Diego State University
Reviews
Reviews
"Questions about free will and agency have challenged and vexed the best philosophical-and theological-minds for millennia, yet the bulk of writing on the topic comes down to us from the intellectual traditions of the West. The erudite and insightful essays collected here help us to redress the imbalance, by concerted attention to the great intellectual traditions of India. No consensus on the age-old paradoxes emerges here, but these essays enable us to see more clearly what it means to be responsible ethical agents in the religious and political worlds we inhabit today." --Francis X. Clooney, SJ, Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard University
"No other book considers such a diverse array of historical and theoretical issues about the nature of self, agency, and freedom of action across this broad a sweep of classical Indian thought. Authored by an impressive mix of rising young and renowned senior scholars, and written with rigor and clarity, it offers an insightful investigation into varied perspectives within Indian traditions and a fascinating and provocative alternative lens to Western understandings." --Andrew O. Fort, Professor of Asian Religions, Texas Christian University
Table of contents
Table of contents
Acknowledgments
Contributors
Introduction
Chapter 1 Agency in Samkhya and Yoga - Edwin F. Bryant
Chapter 2 Free Persons, Empty Selves - Karin Meyers
Chapter 3 Free Will and Voluntarism in Jainism - Christopher Key Chapple
Chapter 4 Paninian Grammarians on Agency and Independence - George Cardona
Chapter 5 Nyaya's Self as Agent and Knower - Matthew R. Dasti
Chapter 6 Freedom Because of Duty - Elisa Freschi
Chapter 7 Just Another Word for Nothing Left to Lose - Jay L. Garfield
Chapter 8 Self, Causation, and Agency in the Advaita of Sankara Sthaneshwar Timalsina
Chapter 9 The Linguistics and Cosmology of Agency in Nondual Kashmiri Saiva Thought
Chapter 10 Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Ramanuja - Martin Ganeri
Chapter 11 Dependent Agency and Hierarchical Determinism in the Theology of Madhva - David Buchta
Chapter 12 Agency in the Gaudiya Vaisnava Tradition - Satyanarayana Dasa and Jonathan B. Edelmann
Index