List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. Comparative Philosophy of Religions Part 1. Epistemology 2. Religious Epistemology in Classical India: In Defense of a Hindu God 3. Against Isvara: Ratnakirti's Buddhist Critique Part 2. Language, Mind, and Ontology 4. The Theory of Exclusion, Conceptual Content, and Buddhist Epistemology 5. Ratnakirti's World: Toward a Buddhist Philosophy of Everything Conclusion 6. The Values of Buddhist Epistemology References Index
Against a Hindu God is a book about the late Indian critiques of Brahmanical conceptions of God. But more than just a study of Buddhist philosophers like Ratnakirti, Parimal G. Patil is interested in what late medieval Indian philosophers have to say to the disciplines of philosophy, theology, religious studies, and South Asian studies. Utilizing the concepts and vocabulary of Sanskrit grammatical theory, Patil constructs a trans-disciplinary space for the comparative philosophy of religion, a vision of the discipline that is both creative and compelling. Scholars routinely note that Buddhist logical and epistemological theories exist in the service of a religious agenda, but few have explained the soteriological dimensions of Buddhist philosophy as clearly as Patil does in this work. A major contribution to the fields of Buddhist and comparative philosophy. -- Jose Ignacio Cabezon, XIVth Dalai Lama Professor of Tibetan Buddhism and Cultural Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara This book combines philological erudition and precision, philosophical sophistication and acuity, with subtle methodological and historical reflection. Parimal G. Patil presents a masterful philosophical exposition of Ratnakirti's critique of Nyaya arguments for the existence of God, but he does much more than this. By exploring its philosophical context, he demonstrates the richness of the premodern Indian philosophical scene, the relevance of Buddhist-Nyaya debates for contemporary philosophy, the importance of cross-cultural scholarship for philosophy, and the value of philosophy for understanding the religious traditions of South Asia. This book will be of great interest to scholars of philosophy, religion, and South Asia and to all those interested in the methodology of global scholarship. -- Jay L. Garfield, Doris Silbert Professor in the Humanities, Smith College Parimal G. Patil's magisterial study of eleventh-century Indian Buddhist anti-God dialectics offers an authentic glimpse of the highly sophisticated epistemological argumentation between theist Nyaya-Vaisesika and atheist Buddhist philosophers. Not just specialists in Indian, Buddhist, and comparative philosophy, but all serious researchers in epistemology, philosophical theology, and metaphysics will profit from this uncompromisingly rigorous monograph. If this does not demolish the ignorant but popular stereotype of Indian philosophy as mushy logic-shunning spiritual wisdom, then nothing ever will. -- Arindam Chakrabarti, professor of philosophy, University of Hawaii and the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore
Parimal G. Patil is John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University.
" Against a Hindu God is a book about the late Indian critiques of Brahmanical conceptions of God. But more than just a study of Buddhist philosophers like Ratnakirti, Parimal G. Patil is interested in what late medieval Indian philosophers have to say to the disciplines of philosophy, theology, religious studies, and South Asian studies. Utilizing the concepts and vocabulary of Sanskrit grammatical theory, Patil constructs a trans-disciplinary space for the comparative philosophy of religion, a vision of the discipline that is both creative and compelling. Scholars routinely note that Buddhist logical and epistemological theories exist in the service of a religious agenda, but few have explained the soteriological dimensions of Buddhist philosophy as clearly as Patil does in this work. A major contribution to the fields of Buddhist and comparative philosophy." -- -- Jose Ignacio Cabezon, University of California at Santa Barbara A penetrating study. -- Stephen Phillips H-Buddhism ...an inviting introduction to the central concerns of Indian forms of logic and to some of its most excellent epistemology, -- Patrick McAllister Journal of Hindu Studies This is a brilliant, erudite, formidable, and intricately argued first book, which shows the arrival of an outstanding Indologist and philosopher. The book calls for concentration and an eye for detail, but it amply rewards the reader. -- Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad Philosophy East and West ...a fascinating and important book... -- Michael D. Nichols Journal of Buddhist Ethics Patil sets a high standard for comparative philosophy. In addition, the work provides a compelling, new interpretation of the place of philosophy on the Buddhist path to liberation. -- Jonathan C. Gold International Journal of Hindu Studies
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
