All are invited to this job talk by Dhruv Raj Nagar, a candidate for a job in the Philosophy Department. Drinks will be served.

Time: Monday April 7th, 16:40 to 18:40
Place: AC04 LR004

Title: Can One be Enjoined to Philosophize? — Knowing, Doing & the Noetics of Attention in Indian Philosophy"

Abstract: The talk asks what it means to be enjoined or compelled to philosophize (particularly about the self) through the kinds of attention that injunctive and imperative language occasion— the Socratic ‘Know thyself!’ or, closer home, Yājñavalkya’s exhortation to self-knowledge in the directive ‘This Self must be seen, heard, reflected, and dwelt upon!’ (BrÌ£hadāranÌ£yaka UpanisÌ£ad 2.4.5). What is one to do when faced with such an exhortation? What course of activity does it entail? Is philosophizing about the self (‘self-inquiry’) a knowing or a doing? Is this distinction, so intrinsic to Indian philosophy, even helpful? Can attending to absences tell us something about the nature of self-inquiry, and the quality of attentiveness that philosophy demands? I consider these questions together as part of a single problematic.

Following classical Indian philosophy as well as contemporary philosophical attention theory, I develop a noetics of attention that will explore the differentia of the kinds of attentiveness characterizing philosophical activity. Engaging work on injunctive language (vidhis), theories of absence (abhāva) and epistemology—and bringing front and center categories of attention (avadhāna) and attentional governance (visÌ£ayavimukhÄ«karanÌ£a)—I consider the implications of centering attention as a mode of knowing and philosophizing. While it remains a lesser pursued avenue in Indian philosophy, attending to attention can offer a way out of the knowing-doing impasse and speak to a host of other relevant problems. Finally, I propose that we understand self-knowledge and self-inquiry as involving an aesthetics of attention beyond simply an epistemology and a psychology.

Bio: Dhruv Raj Nagar is the inaugural Bhagavan Arnath Postdoctoral Fellow in Jaina Studies at Emory University. He earned a PhD in Philosophy of Religions from the University of Chicago and, most recently, was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Divinity School where he further developed his ideas on early Sanskrit philosophy of language and action. A Śāstri in Vedānta and VvākaranÌ£a from Kavikulaguru Kalidasa Sanskrit University, he has previously taught philosophy, religion and Sanskrit at the University of Chicago, University of Illinois-Chicago, University of Wisconsin-Madison and Delhi University (St. Stephens College and Lady Shriram College). His work spans Indian philosophy of language, metaphysics of self and personhood, consciousness studies, Indian aesthetics, performance theory and Continental philosophy of religions. He particularly enjoys researching and teaching the rich and complex history of relations between MÄ«māmÌ£sā, Vedānta, SāmÌ£khya-Yoga, early Buddhism, Jainism and KāśmÄ«ra Trika.