Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy

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Matthew R. Dasti, Edwin F. Bryant
Oxford University Press, Nov 26, 2013 - Philosophy - 320 pages
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.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
The Unchangeability of the Eternal
16
Freedom and Agency in Light of the Two Truths
41
3 Free Will and Voluntarism in Jainism
68
4 Paninian Grammarians on Agency and Independence
85
5 Nyayas Self as Agent and Knower
112
The Problem of Agency in Mimamsa
137
Freedom Agency and Ethics for Madhyamikas
164
8 Self Causation and Agency in the Advaita of Sankara
186
9 The Linguistics and Cosmology of Agency in Nondual Kashmiri Saiva Thought
210
11 Dependent Agency and Hierarchical Determinism in the Theology of Madhva
255
12 Agency in the Gaudiya Vaisnava Tradition
279
Index
309
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About the author (2013)

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.

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