Syllabus for MA Philosophy

Courses for MA in Philosophy, their objectives and themes

All are 4 credit courses

Overview MA Philosophy semesters:

Semester - I
(1a) Nature of Thinking
(1b) Conceptual Foundations of Western Philosophy : Metaphysics and Ontology
(1c) Theories of Knowledge
(1d) Conceptual Foundations of Indian Philosophy : Metaphysics and Ontology
(1e) Ethics
Semester - II
(2a) Philosophy of Social Science
(2b) Philosophy of Natural Science
(2c) Philosophy of Language
(2d) Philosophy in Modern India
(2e) Philosophical methods
Semester III
(3a) Political philosophy
(3b) Philosophy of Mind
(3c) Philosophy and History
(3d) Self and the World in Indian philosophy
(3e) Philosophy of Films
Semester IV
(4a) Philosophy of Technology
(4b) Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics
(4c) Philosophy of Religion
(4d) Feminist Philosophy and the Subaltern
(4e) Philosophy in Translation
 Course Details

Semester - I

(1a) Nature of Thinking

This course provides an introduction to the philosophical nature of thinking, the
quintessential human activity that has been seen as a central theme for philosophy. Basic
understanding of thinking, reading and writing are put to philosophical analyses in this paper.

Objectives
This paper will allow students to understand the nature of thinking and to critically engage
with themes like thinking, rationality and intelligence. Students will be able to develop a capacity
to critically think on their own by engaging with the basic assumptions about thinking, reading,
and writing.

Themes covered
 Philosophical exploration of the activity of thinking (10 hours)
 Different kinds of thinking – reasoning, problem solving, creative thinking (10 hours)
 Relation between thinking, reading and writing (15 hours)
 Logic and laws of thinking (10 hours)
 Different traditions of logic – Greek, Modern, Nyaya, Buddhist, Jaina logic, etc. (10
hours)
 Logical fallacies (5 hours)

Indicative readings

 Gilbert Ryle. 1979. On thinking.

  JL Mehta
 Michael Peters. 2007. ―Kinds of thinking, styles of reasoning.‖ Educational Philosophy
and Theory.
 Theodore Sider. 2009. Logic for Philosophy.
 B. K. Matilal. 1998. The Character of Logic in India.
 Sarukkai, Sundar – Indian Philosophy and Philosophy of Science
 Mohanty, J.N. 1999. Reason and Tradition in Indian thought: An essay on the nature of
Indian Philosophical thinking
 Ganeri, Jonardan. 2009. Philosophy in Classical India: The Proper Work of Reason

(1b) Conceptual foundations of Western Philosophy 1: Metaphysics and Ontology

In this course, core topics of metaphysics and ontology are introduced. Questions regarding
the reality of things and nature of things around us and their features will be discussed.

Objectives
To allow students to question the basic assumption that we have about reality and about the
existence of things around us. The paper will also let students to critically engage with the ideas
regarding the nature of reality of objects and about the reality of ideas and concepts in
mathematics, science, philosophy and other disciplines.

Themes covered
 Concepts and questions pertaining to existence and reality (15 hours)
 Various metaphysical categories like universals, particulars, substances, relations, etc. (15
hours)
 Metaphysical analysis of objects – substance and their properties (15 hours)
 Introduction to ontology and ontological positions like realism, anti-realism, nominalism,
nihilism, etc. (15 hours)

Indicative readings
 Michael Loux. 2002. Metaphysics: A contemporary introduction. New York: London
  E.J. Lowe. 2001. The possibility of metaphysics. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
 Richard Gale (Ed.). 2002. The Blackwell guide to metaphysics
 John W. Carroll & Ned Markosian. 2010. An introduction to metaphysics

(1c) Conceptual Foundations of Indian Philosophy : Metaphysics and Ontology

This course will provide a basic introduction to some of metaphysical and ontological
concepts derived from influential schools of thought in Indian Philosophy. Rationalist discourses
and arguments from some fundamental texts of these schools will be taught along with
foundational concepts that distinct and unique to these traditions such as Padartha, ( categories,
Purusharta (purpose of being human), Dharama and karma etc
Objectives
To allow students to familiar themselves with Indian traditions of thought and their conceptual
foundations including perception, categories and methods. The paper will also allow students to
engage with rational thought within the Indian traditions.

Themes covered
 Introduction to Indian philosophical concepts ( 5 hours)
 Debates and discussion on existence (10 hours)
 Padaratha: Properties, and relations ( 10 hours)
 Desire and action ( 5 hours)
 Debates and discussion on Pramana: Perception ( 15 hours)
 Ontological positions of different schools ( 15 hours)
 Unique worldviews and debates from texts on the following topics: 1.Liberation, 2.
Body, 3. Karma, 4. Self/ soul ( 5 Hours)

Indicative readings:

 Ganeri, Jonardon ( ed.) 2017. Oxford Companion to Indian Philosophy.

 Hiriyanna, M. 2014 Outlines of Indian Philosophy, New edition
 King, Richard – Indian Philosophy: An Introduction to Hindu and Buddhist Thought
 B. K. Matilal. 1986. Perception: An Essay on Classical Indian Theories of knowledge.
Oxford: Clarendon Press.
 Halbfass, Wilhelm. 1992. On being and what there is: classical Vaiaseosika and the
history of Indian ontology. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
 Mohanty, Jitendra Nath. 1999 Reason and Tradition in Indian Thought: An Essay on the
Nature of Indian Philosophical Thinking. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1999.
 Sharma, Chandradhar. 1960. A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy. London: Rider.

( 1d) Conceptual Foundations of Western Philosophy 2: Theories of Knowledge

This course provides an introduction to epistemology, the branch of philosophy which

explores the nature of knowledge. Discussions in this paper will mainly focus on questions like –
How do we know? What can we know? Is knowledge absolute or relative? It will also explore
contemporary theories of the way knowledge is created, communicated and sourced. Debates
around the classification and epistemes will be a part of the course

Objectives
To allow students to question some of the fundamental assumptions about acquisition of
knowledge and the nature of knowledge. Students are expected to critically engage with these
questions which are applicable to knowledge acquisition in all the disciplines. Discussions will
also focus on how different disciplines like literature, sociology, science, mathematics, etc. gain
knowledge about their respective subjects and how each of them stand in relation to one another.

Themes covered
 Various theories of knowledge from Western philosophy (15 hours)
 Introduction to different sources of knowledge – (10 hours)
 Nature of justification – certainty, reliability, scepticism (15 hours)
 Understanding the difficulties in attaining knowledge – doubt, scepticism and types of
knowledge (10 hours)
 Disciplines and contemporary debates on Knowledge ( 10 hours)
 Indicative readings
 Robert Audi. 2011. Epistemology: A contemporary introduction to the theory of
knowledge. New York: Routledge.
 Ilkka Niiniluoto, Matti Sintonen and Jan Wolsenki (editors). Handbook of Knowledge.
Dordrecht: Springer-Science+Business Media
 Foucault, Michel. 2002. The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences.
Routledge classics

(1e) Ethics

In this course, philosophical exploration of moral actions and ethics are introduced.
Questions like – why is killing someone wrong? What reasons do we have that allows us to
justify our actions? What is the relation between thinking and ethical actions? What makes an
action ethical? – will be discussed in this paper.

Objectives
This paper will focus on acquainting students with different theories of ethics and also to
critically think about these theories. It will also focus on how ethics is related to different
disciplines like science, technology and social sciences. The paper will help students to engage in
questions regarding the scope and limits of ethics, and what distinguishes ethical actions from
other actions.

Themes covered:
 Differentiating ethical actions from other kinds of actions (10 hours)
 Situating ethics – subjective or universal (10 hours)
 Various western theories of ethics – deontology, consequentialism, virtue ethics, etc. (15
hours)
 Indian theories of ethics – Buddhist, Jaina, Advaitha, etc. (15 hours)
 Cultural relativity of ethics (10 hours)
 Indicative readings:
 Henry Gensler. 2011. Ethics: A Contemporary Introduction. New York: Routledge
 Kedar Nath Tiwari. 2007. Classical Indian Ethical Thought. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass
Publ.
 Matilal. B.K Moral Dilemmas in the Mahabharata
 Singer, Peter. 2016. Ethics in the Real World – 82 Brief Essays on Things That Matter
 PurushottamaBilimoria, Joseph Prabhu and Renuka Sharma (eds), Indian Ethics:
Classical Traditions and Contemporary Challenges. Vol.1

Semester - II
(2a) Philosophy of Social Science
In this course, the fundamental tenets of Social Science as a discipline is explored. Apart
from studying the various objects of this discipline, the methods of this discipline are also
evaluated. Discussions in this paper will focus on the foundational aspect of the discipline of
social sciences and the subject of inquiry of social sciences.

Objectives
To familiarize students with the basic and foundational concepts employed in the discipline
of social sciences. Questions regarding what distinguishes social and natural sciences and the
different methodologies used in the social sciences will be discussed in detail.

Themes covered
 History of social science as a discipline (15 hours)
 Various objects of study: society, family, individuals, collectives, institutions (15 hours)
 Methods of social science, qualitative vs quantitative methodologies (15 hours)
 Is social science a science? (15 hours)

Indicative readings
 Ted Benton and Ian Craib. 2011. Philosophy of Social Science: The philosophical
foundations of Social Thought. Palgrave.
  Gurupreet Mahajan, 1997. Explanation and Understanding in the Human Sciences.
Oxford
 Nancy Cartwright (Editor), Eleanora Montuschi (Editor), 2014 . Philosophy of Social
Science: A New Introduction 1st Edition

(2b) Philosophy of Natural Science

This course will explore the discipline of Natural Science through philosophical and
historical methods. Importantly, the reality claim of natural science, relation between theory and
experiments, anti-realism will be explored. Discussions will include the scope and nature of
science, scientific knowledge and the nature of scientific methodology.

Objectives
Students will be allowed to engage with the questions about the nature of scientific
knowledge, what makes science effective, is scientific knowledge universal, use of mathematics
in science, difference between pure and applied science, and claims about science as rational,
objective and universal. Themes related to the relation between science and ethics, science and
gender, science and society, and development of the discipline of science, will be discussed in
some detail.

Themes covered
 Nature of scientific theory (15 hours)
 Nature of scientific knowledge (15 hours)
 Scientific realism and anti-realism (10 hours)
 Relation between theory and knowledge (10 hours)
 Science, ethics and gender (10 hours)

Indicative readings
 Peter Godfrey-Smith. Theory and reality: An introduction to the philosophy of science.
University of Chicago Press, 2009.
  Sundar Sarukkai, What is Science? National Book Trust.
 Bernard E Rollin, ed. Science and Ethics. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

(2c) Philosophy of Language

In this course, nature of language is explored. Apart from exploring different theories of
meaning, difference between written and spoken language, and other related aspects are dealt.
This course will also focus on different aspects of language like semantics and semiotics, and
how they are combined to form meaning of words and sentences.

Objectives
In this paper, students will engage in basic questions relating to language like the nature of
language, relationship between language and reality, what is grammar, how do we define
language, and the use of language in different disciplines.

Themes
 Western theories of meaning (15 hours)
 Indian theories of meaning (15 hours)
 Difference between written and spoken language (15 hours)
 Relation between language and reality (15 hours)

Indicative readings
 William Lycan. 2008. Philosophy of Language. Routledge.
 B. K. Matilal. 1992. The Word and the World: Indian Contributions to the Study of
Language. Oxford.
 Devitt and Sterelny. 1999. Language and Reality, MIT Press.

2(d) Philosophy in Modern India

In this course, nature and challenges of doing philosophy in the modern Indian context are
discussed. Questions such as - Are there different ways of doing philosophy in different
traditions? What allows for influence of philosophical ideas from one tradition and not from
others? How political ideas influence the legitimacy and influence of philosophical ideas, are
discussed.

Objectives

Students are presented with current challenges in doing philosophy in India with focus on
presenting different reasons for such challenges to emerge. The role of colonialism and the direct
impact of certain social and political ideas in doing philosophy is discussed. The debates
surrounding who is allowed to philosophize, and the challenges posed in teaching non-western
philosophical ideas in India, will be discussed in some detail.

Themes

 Indian philosophy during colonial times (20 hours)

 Indian philosophy post colonialism (20 hours)

 Present conditions and challenges of doing philosophy in India (20 hours)

Indicative readings

 JL Mehta India and the West: The Problem of Understanding, Scholars Press, 1985
 Peter Park. 2013. Africa, Asia, and the History of Philosophy. SUNY Press.

 Raghuramaraju, A. 2007. Debates in Indian Philosophy: Classical, Colonial, and

Contemporary. Oxford University Press, 2007.
  Raghuramaraju, A. 2009. Enduring colonialism: Classical presences and modern
absences in Indian philosophy. Oxford University Press.

 B. K. Lal. 2014. Contemporary Indian Philosophy. Motilal Banarsidass.

 Naravane. 1967. Modern Indian Thought. Asia Publishing House.

(2e) Philosophical methods

This is an introduction to various methods available in philosophy across time and region.
The paper will discuss the ways in which philosophy was done in different ways. Themes
regarding the focus of certain philosophical methods and their justification to use certain
methods, will be also be discussed.

Objectives
To familiarize students with different philosophical methods used in different philosophical
traditions and the debates surrounding the use of these methods. Students will also get to know
the different approaches used in each of these different traditions and the debates around why
these philosophical methods differ from one another.

Themes covered
 Rationalism and empiricism (10 hours)
 Hermeneutical approach (10 hours)
 Analytical and continental methods (10 hours)
 Phenomenological approach (10 hours)
 Existentialism (8 hours)
 Naturalized philosophy (6 hours)
 Comparative methodology (6 hours)
 Indicative readings
 Giuseppina D‘Oro and Søren Overgaard. 2017. The Cambridge Companion to
Philosophical Methodology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 Chris Daly. An Introduction to Philosophical Methods. New York: Broadview Press.
 J. F. Staal. 1965. ―Euclid and Panini.‖ Philosophy East and West (15): 99-116

Semester – 3

(3a) Political philosophy

This course will discuss the debates around the relationship between political science and
philosophy. The course will try to show the connection between the philosophical ideas like
Justice and Ethics in political thought.

Objective
To acquaint students with some of the fundamental ideas in political science and to explore the
relation between philosophy and political science. The role and scope of philosophical analysis
of political ideas will be discussed in some detail.

Themes
 Political ideas and concerns of politics (20 hours)
 Foundations of political science (20 hours)
 Relationship between philosophy, political science and society (20 hours)

Indicative readings
 David Miller. 2003. Political Philosophy: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University
Press.
 Niraja Gopal Jayal, and Pratap Bhanu Mehta. 2010. The Oxford Companion to Politics in
India. Oxford University Press.
 Robert L Simon, ed. 2002. The Blackwell Guide to Social and Political Philosophy.
Blackwell Publishers Limited.
  Amartya Sen. 1999. Development as Freedom. Alfred A Knopf.
 Gopal Guru and Sundar Sarukkai. 2012. The Cracked Mirror: An Indian Debate on
Experience and Theory. Oxford University Press.

(3b) Philosophy of Mind

This course will discuss the ideas around conceptualization and theorization of mind in different
philosophical traditions. The topics discussed will include the reduction of mind to the brain, the
debate between the self and the mind, and the ontology and metaphysics of mind.

Objectives
To allow students to understand the different conceptual frameworks used in various
philosophical traditions to theorize ‗mind‘. Students are allowed to critically analyse the
arguments given to justify different theories and concepts of mind. Students are allowed to think
about the influence of certain ideas about mind in other disciplines such as psychology, ethology,
animal behavioural studies and economics.

Themes
 Knowing one‘s own mind and the minds of others (15 hours)
 Indian philosophical theories of mind (15 hours)
 Brain and the mind (15 hours)
 Non-human minds and artificial intelligence (15 hours)

Indicative readings
 E. J. Lowe. 2004. An introduction to the philosophy of mind. Cambridge University Press.
 John Heil. 1998. Philosophy of Mind: A contemporary introduction. Routledge.
 Dan Arnold. 2012. Brains, Buddhas, and Believing: The Problem of Intentionality in
Classical Buddhist and Cognitive-Scientific Philosophy of Mind. Columbia University
Press.
  Kishor Kumar Chakrabarti. 1999. Classical Indian Philosophy of Mind: The Nyaya
Dualist Tradition. Lexington Books.

(3c) Philosophy and History

This course will discuss the connection between philosophy and history. The paper will also
focus on how dominant history of philosophy is written and if such history actually encapsulate
all of history of philosophy or are just focused on one particular kind of history.

Objectives
This paper will allow students to explore and question the ideas that are less explored in
understanding and reading history. What patterns, if any are there in history? Can history be a
science or is history about interpretation and speculation? Are there any laws in history? These
kinds of questions will be explored in this course.

Themes
 Philosophy of history and History of Philosophy (20 hours)
 Historical causation (20 hours)
 Present challenges in writing history of philosophy (20 hours)

Indicative readings
 W. H . Walsh. 1960. Philosophy of History: An Introduction. Harper Torchbook.
 Frits Gavertsson. ‗Philosophy of History in the Analytic Tradition‘.
 Chris Lorenz. 2013. ‗History and Theory‘. Tuna.
 D. D. Kosambi. History and Society: Problems of Interpretation.

(3d) Self and the World in Indian Philosophy

In this course the conceptual ideas of self, no self, identity, the individual, and the world will be
studied through two interpretative traditions of Indian philosophy— Vedanta and Buddhism.
Focusing on the debates between the real and ideal as well as between the concept of self and no
self, this paper will expose students to philosophical debates in India that have influenced many
thinkers and writers in India. The historical and philosdpophical contexts under which these
philosophical schools developed and divided themselves in to substreams will be studied.

Objectives
In this paper students will engage with the important concepts that Vedanta and Buddhism
propose. The position of both these schools, their points of similarity and difference about the
individual self/no self will be clarified. The historical context under which the main syncretic
schools developed in these traditions will be studied.
Themes
 Vedanta and its foundations 20 hours
 Buddhism and its development 20 hours
 Introduction to Śankara and Vasubandhu 10 hours
 Debates and developments In Vedanta ( 5 hours)
 Debates and Developments in Buddhism ( 5 hours)

Indicative readings

 Ganeri, Jonardon ( ed.) 2017. Oxford Companion to Indian Philosophy.

 Hiriyanna, M. 2014 Outlines of Indian Philosophy, New edition
 King, Richard. 1999. Indian Philosophy: An Introduction to Hindu and Buddhist Thought
 Nicholson A. 2010. Unifying Hinduism
 Matilal, Bimal Krishna – Perception
 Mark Siderits Evan Thompson ,Dan Zahavi (Editors). 2013 Self, No Self?: Perspectives
from Analytical, Phenomenological, and Indian Traditions

(3e) Philosophy of Films

Philosophical engagement and analysis of films allows one to ask some of the fundamental
questions in philosophy. This course will engage in the philosophical themes in the films as well
as the themes like aesthetics, spectatorship, censorship, and specific aspects relating to films.

Objectives
 To give students an understanding of key philosophical issues concerning film
 To enable students to develop their own philosophical ideas on the topics covered
 To show students how an understanding of philosophical problems can enhance
everyday engagement with films

Themes
 Reality, creativity and imagination (20 hours)
 Expression, intentionality, interpretation and meaning (20 hours)
 Storytelling, aesthetics, and ethics (20 hours)

Indicative readings
 Richard Allen and Murray Smith, eds. 2002. Film Theory and Philosophy. Clarendon
Press, Oxford.
 Felicity Colman, ed. 2009. Film, Theory and Philosophy: The Key Thinkers. McGill-
Queen‘s University Press.
 Amrit Gangar. The Cinema of Prayoga.
 M. K. Raghavendra Rao. 2008. Seduced by the Familiar: Narration and Meaning in
Indian Popular Cinema. OUP.

Semester – 4

(4a) Philosophy of Technology

This paper will investigate the philosophical questions raised by emerging technologies such as
genetic engineering, self-driving cars, etc. and explore those philosophical questions in the
context of ethics, epistemology and ontology. The paper will also discuss questions regarding the
nature of technology, the relation between technology, society and wellbeing, and ethical
challenges posed by technology.‘

Objectives
This paper will allow students to critically investigate the role technology plays in the society by
asking questions relating to technological development and pollution, the effect of technology in
our everyday life from medicine, transportation, communication, war, etc. Students are allowed
to discuss the fundamental features of technology, ethics of use and production of technology,
and the conception of human through technology.

Themes
 Fundamental nature and feature of technology (15 hours)
 Ethics of use and production of technology (15 hours)
 Technological development, its effect on human wellbeing, and its effect on nature (15
hours)
 Conceptual relation between humans, non-humans and technology (15 hours)

Indicative readings
 Jan Kyrre Berg Olsen, Stig Andur Pedersen and Vincente F Hendricks eds. 2009. A
Companion to the Philosophy of Technology. Wiley Blackwell.
 Marc J. de Vries. 2005. Teaching About Technology: An Introduction to the Philosophy of
Technology for Non-Philosophers. Springer.
 K. Gopinathan Pillai. 1988. ‗Gandhi and the Concept of Alternative Technology‘. The
Indian Journal of Political Science. Vol. 49. No. 3: 370-385.

(4b) Philosophy of Art and Aesthetics

This paper will give an introduction to the philosophy of art and aesthetics. Discussions will
mainly focus on the definition and nature of art and aesthetics. Themes related to the objective of
art, nature of artistic objects, difference between art and other disciplines, scope of art, etc. will
be discussed in some detail. Questions regarding knowledge about art and objects of, artistic
imagination and reasoning, relation between art and human emotions, and the relation of art to
reality, will also be included in the discussion.

Objectives
The course will allow students to philosophically examine the nature of art and art objects,
relation between art and the artist, what constitutes art, etc. Other themes like relation between
art and society, artistic creativity, imagination and thinking, and the artistic knowledge will also
be discussed.

Themes
 Definition of art and aesthetics (10 hours)
 Artistic imagination, creativity, and its relation to reasoning (15 hours)
 Role of art in the society (10 hours)
 Ontology and epistemology of objects of art (10 hours)
 Art, emotions, logic and rationality (15 hours)

Indicative readings
 Neerja A Gupta. 2017. A Student’s Handbook of Indian Aesthetics. Cambridge Scholars
Publishing.
 Anne Sheppard. 1987. Aesthetics: An introduction to the philosophy of art. Oxford
University Press.
 Gordon Graham. 2005. Philosophy of Arts: An introduction to aesthetics. Routledge.
 Akin Adesokan. 2011. Postcolonial Artists and Global Aesthetics. Indiana University
Press.
 Pollock, Sheldon. 2018. A Rasa Reader:Classical Indian Aesthetics Columbia University
Press
(4c) Philosophy of Religion

This paper will be an introduction to the different conception of religion and the relation between
religious ideas and philosophy. The nature and development of religious ideas and the influence
of philosophy on religion is also analysed. Discussion in this paper will include the debates on
the role of religion in a society, the influence of religious ideas in philosophical thinking and the
relationship between religion and science.

Objectives
This paper will allow students to philosophically analyse the idea of religion and its influence in
different domains of the society. Topics related to religious ethics, influence of religious ideas in
science, contention between religion and science, and modern responses to religious ideas will be
also be discussed.

Themes
 Religious ideas and its influence in philosophy (15 hours)
 Philosophical analyses of the religious ideas (15 hours)
 Influence of religion in ethics, science and society (15 hours)
 Debate between science and society (15 hours)

Indicative readings
 William J Wainwright. 2005. The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Religion. Oxford
University Press.
 Surendranath Dasgupta. A History of Indian Philosophy.
 D. Z. Phillips and Timothy Tessin eds. 2001. Philosophy of Religion in the 21st Century.
Palgrave Macmillan.

(4 d )Feminist Philosophy and the Subaltern
This paper will discuss some of the core issues in Feminist philosophy and non-mainstream
philosophy. Politics and history of ideas in feminist philosophy and the philosophy from the
subaltern traditions will also be discussed and will be placed in debate with other philosophical
traditions.

Objective
This paper is mainly focused to allow students to have a conceptual clarity about the foundations
of feminist philosophy, its history and the debates involving feminism and other philosophical
studies. Philosophical theories emerging from the marginal communities will be discussed as a
part of the study of subaltern, which will allow students to critically engage in ideas emerging
from these marginal philosophical traditions.

Themes
 Justice, ethics and feminism (15 hours)
 Politics of ideas and the study of the subaltern (15 hours)
 Ideas in the mainstream philosophy and the philosophies of the subaltern traditions (15
hours)
 Definition of philosophy in the context of feminist philosophy and the philosophies of the
subaltern traditions (15 hours)

Indicative readings
 Tommy L Lott and John P Pittman eds. 2006. A Companion to African-American
Philosophy. Blackwell Publishing.
 Gopal Guru ed. 2009. Humiliation: Claims and Context. Oxford University Press.
 Rosemarie Tong. 2014. Feminist Thought: A More Comprehensive Introduction.
Westview Press.
 Elizabeth Jackson. 2010. Feminism and Contemporary Indian Women’s Writing. Palgrave
Macmillan.
(4e) Philosophy in Translation

This paper is about close reading of the philosophical texts in a language (preferably Kannada or
Sanskrit or Hindi) other than English with an aim of developing reading and translation skills.
The paper will also include discussions around the idea of translation, meaning and language.
Objectives
To allow students to critically engage with philosophical texts from languages other than English
and to come up with possible problems in such engagement. Questions regarding the meaning of
the text, translation of words and their relation to the meaning of the text, and the complexity in
writing philosophy in different languages will be discussed.

Themes
 Interpretation of texts (15 hours)
 Translation of words and meaning from one language to another (15 hours)
 Problems in translation of texts (15 hours)
 Writing philosophy in different languages and the challenges to it (15 hours)

Indicative readings
 Indra Nath Choudhuri. 2010. ‗Towards an Indian Theory of Translation‘. Indian
Literature. Vol. 54, No. 5: 113-123.
 Paanu Raatikainen. 2012. ‗Philosophical Issues in Meaning and Translation‘ in
Translation – Interpretation – Meaning. Anneli Aejmelaeus and Paivi Pahta eds.
 Andrew Benjamin. 1989. Translation and the nature of philosophy. Routledge.
 Sundar Sarukkai. 2016. Translation as Method. Indian Journal of History of Science.

Draft 1: Dr Sundar sarukkai May 2018-07-25

Draft 2: (Slight modifications): Dr Meera Baindur July 2018