 2014 - 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 0618-2776-01 | Reality and Illusion: From the Upanishads to Shankara | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| FACULTY OF HUMANITIES | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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University credit hours: 2.0
Course description
The Upaniṣads are the cornerstones of Indian philosophy. Śaṅkara, the famous commentator of the Upaniṣads, is considered by many to be the greatest Indian philosopher.
In this course, we will read closely several Upaniṣadic chapters (mostly from the Bṛhadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad), with constant reference to Śaṅkara's commentary. Our discussion will focus on illusion and reality (through the notions of Māyā and Brahman), "inwardness" and "outwardness", "self-knowledge", and on language as both a "disease" and its "cure", in the Upaniṣadic lore and in Śaṅkara.
Preliminary reading:
Patrick Olivelle, The Early Upanişads (OUP 1998)
Eliot Deutsch, Advaita Vedānta: A Philosophical Reconstruction (Honolulu: East-West Center Press 1969)
In this course, we will read closely several Upaniṣadic chapters (mostly from the Bṛhadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad), with constant reference to Śaṅkara's commentary. Our discussion will focus on illusion and reality (through the notions of Māyā and Brahman), "inwardness" and "outwardness", "self-knowledge", and on language as both a "disease" and its "cure", in the Upaniṣadic lore and in Śaṅkara.
Preliminary reading:
Patrick Olivelle, The Early Upanişads (OUP 1998)
Eliot Deutsch, Advaita Vedānta: A Philosophical Reconstruction (Honolulu: East-West Center Press 1969)