Title: Ways of Being and Relevant Alternatives
Abstract:
This talk brings the 8th-9th centu
ry Sanskrit philosopher Prajñākaragupta’s distinctive approach to everyday
knowledge into conversation with contextualist approaches to skepticism and
knowledge ascription in contemporary epistemology. Prajñākaragupta forward
s a theory of everyday knowledge in line with his complex picture of existe
nce whereby causal efficacy defines what exists in the everyday world\, but
what fundamentally exists is only what appears in a present moment of awar
eness. Prajñākaragupta argues that these two forms of existence are not red
ucible to each other\, and neither are the two forms of knowledge that alig
n with these two forms of existence. Prajñākara’s principled pluralism abou
t existence provides a powerful way of acknowledging the force of radical s
kepticism\, while still diffusing the threat that it seems to pose to every
day knowledge ascriptions. At the same time\, he articulates a hierarchy of
conventions that provides additional precision on how contextually-bound j
udgments of efficacy set the standards for everyday knowledge. Although it
is true that knowledge ascriptions will be vindicated or not depending on t
heir context\, some ascriptions are more robust than others on the basis of
what it is that these ascriptions exclude. It is therefore possible to ref
ute or affirm various conventional knowledge claims even as no everyday kno
wledge claim is vindicated at the level of fundamental existence.
My research engages Classical Sanskrit philosophies
with a focus on how these traditions contribute to our contemporary unders
tanding of human experience. I work within the Classical Sanskrit pramāṇa f
ramework\, which focuses on what and how we can know about reality given ou
r embodied position within an intersubjective world. I find that the 7th ce
ntury Buddhist Dharmakīrti’s apoha (exclusion) theory of concept formation\
, especially as modified by the 10th-11th century Hindu Pratyabhijñā Śaiva
tradition\, offers compelling insights into fundamental questions surroundi
ng the intersubjective world construction\, the nature of agency\, and the
ethical implications of how we form our worlds.