Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette – författare

This is the first book fully dedicated to Indian philosophical doxography. It examines the function such dialectical texts were intended to serve in the intellectual and religious life of their public. It looks at Indian doxography both as a witness of inter- and intra-sectarian dialogues and as a religious phenomenon. It argues that doxographies represent dialectical exercises, indicative of a peculiar religious attitude to plurality, and locate these ‘exercises’ within a known form of ‘yoga’ dedicated to the cultivation of ‘knowledge’ or ‘gnosis’ (jñāna).

Concretely, the book presents a critical examination of three Sanskrit doxographies: the Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā of the Buddhist Bhāviveka, the Ṣaḍdarśanasamuccaya of the Jain Haribhadra, and the Sarvasiddhāntasaṅgraha attributed to the Advaitin Śaṅkara, focusing on each of their respective presentation of the Mīmāṃsā view.

It is the first time that the genre of doxography is considered beyond its literary format to ponder its performative dimension, as a spiritual exercise. Theoretically broad, the book reaches out to academics in religious studies, Indian philosophy, Indology, and classical studies.

This is the first book fully dedicated to Indian philosophical doxography. It examines the function such dialectical texts were intended to serve in the intellectual and religious life of their public. It looks at Indian doxography both as a witness of inter- and intra-sectarian dialogues and as a religious phenomenon. It argues that doxographies represent dialectical exercises, indicative of a peculiar religious attitude to plurality, and locate these ‘exercises’ within a known form of ‘yoga’ dedicated to the cultivation of ‘knowledge’ or ‘gnosis’ (jñāna).

Concretely, the book presents a critical examination of three Sanskrit doxographies: the Madhyamakahṛdayakārikā of the Buddhist Bhāviveka, the Ṣaḍdarśanasamuccaya of the Jain Haribhadra, and the Sarvasiddhāntasaṅgraha attributed to the Advaitin Śaṅkara, focusing on each of their respective presentation of the Mīmāṃsā view.

It is the first time that the genre of doxography is considered beyond its literary format to ponder its performative dimension, as a spiritual exercise. Theoretically broad, the book reaches out to academics in religious studies, Indian philosophy, Indology, and classical studies.

This book examines the significance of metaphysical list-making as a determining feature of ‘spiritual exercises’ in South Asian gnostic yogas. It examines how these ancient traditions sought spiritual transformation through the dialectical practice of taxonomy. It highlights the gnostic thread that intersects ‘spiritual exercises’ and ‘ways of life’ in Hindu, Buddhist, and Jaina circles. It fills a gap in yoga studies by proposing a new understanding of jñāna-yoga (yoga of knowledge). Departing from mainstream Anglophone philosophical traditions, it articulates an original meta-theory of philosophical practice, explaining how philosophy can be ''therapeutic'' in concrete terms. The book theorizes yogic Gnosticism, as a South Asian religious undercurrent and as a distinctive form of philosophical practice and ascetic way of life internalizing a sacrificial worldview. Finally, the book analyzes four literary case studies, presenting therapeutic methods in competing gnostic traditions, namely, the Verses on Sāṃkhya of Īśvarakṛṣṇa; the Advaita Instructions on the Doctrine of Gauḍapāda; the Buddhist Heart Sūtra; and the Twelve Contemplations of the Jaina Kundakunda. The groundbreaking multidisciplinary and trans-sectarian book offers a must-read for scholars across the fields of world philosophy and religious studies.