Second Kumārila Conference

Kumārila ranks among the key Sanskrit thinkers, and his massive influence has forever changed the course of Sanskrit philosophy, from Buddhist epistemology to Nyāya ontology. This conference, held at the Department of Philosophy on the St. George campus, is the second time international experts on Kumārila’s philosophy can come together to discuss his masterpieces. These experts will workshop their translations of some of Kumārila’s works in two-hour reading sessions. Sessions will see us both reading and commenting on selected passages on a given topic (e.g., adhikāra in Ṭupṭīkā 6.1) and hearing a talk on the topic itself (e.g., mapping the intersection of adhikāra and sāmarthya). A discussion session will follow. Additionally, scholars and advanced students will have the opportunity to present their Kumārila-related research in shorter, 60-minute sessions.

The conference is coordinated by Elisa Freschi and Nilanjan Das and will see the participation of other experts in Sanskrit philosophy and philology.

Confirmed Participants

• Tarinee Awasthi
• Hugo David
• Alessandro Ganassi
• Alessandro Graheli
• Kei Kataoka
• Malcolm Keating
• Lawrence McCrea
• John Nemec
• Monika Nowakowska
• Andrew Ollett
• Sarju Patel
• Parimal Patil
• Jonathan Peterson
• Akane Saito
• Taisei Shida
• Long Yin Sin
• Elliot Stern
• Alex Watson
• Kiyotaka Yoshimizu

This will be an in-person only event, since we believe in the power of collective intelligence and collaboration, which are challenging to replicate when some participants speak on Zoom while others are in the room.

The organizers gratefully acknowledge support for the conference from the Departments of Philosophy at UTSG and UTM, as well as the Office of the Vice-Principal, Research, and the Decanal Fund at UTM.