Classical Indian Philosophy for Analytic Philosophers: Part II
Details
Join us on Thursday, March 9 for Part Two of our examination of the intersection between Classical Indian philosophy and Analytic philosophy. Professor Stephen Phillips (PhD, Harvard) will be joining us to give the second part of a special two-part lecture series, entitled “Classical Indian Philosophy for Analytic Philosophers.”
Stephen Phillips is Professor Emeritus at the University of Texas at Austin, a sanskritist and philosopher who is the author of eleven books including (most recently) a three-volume translation of the gargantuan 1871-page Tattva-cintā-maṇi, entitled Jewel of Reflection on the Truth about Epistemology (Bloomsbury: 2020) and The Metaphysics of Meditation: Sri Aurobindo and Ādi Śaṅkara on the Īśā Upaniṣad (Bloomsbury: now in press).
Part II: “Ethics, Yoga, and the Metaphysics of Meditation; or, Ethical Intuitionism, Reinvigorated”
This Meetup will examine the relationship between yoga philosophy, ethical intuitionism, and character ethics. Specifically, Professor Phillips will argue (a) that ethical intuition requires character training, and (b) that the practice of yoga serves as a means of developing the ethical intuition necessary for making appropriate decisions in complex situations.
Ethical intuitionism
Ethical intuitionism asserts that there are objective moral truths and that they can be known by direct apprehension, without the need for empirical evidence, logical deduction, or external bases such as God or “society.”
According to the Bhagavad Gītā and other yoga texts, human beings possess an innate ethical organ that, with proper training, can discern the correct course of action. Without such training, however, this ethical organ remains undeveloped. Therefore, yoga practice is not only promoted for its primary goal of enlightenment and mystical experience, but also for its capacity to cultivate what is referred to as “conscience” in Western philosophy.
The notion of conscience is criticized by Analytic philosophers who determine value by means of analysis into properties. “What are the peculiar properties that the ethical intuitionist perceives?” asks the Analytic philosopher, rhetorically.
In contrast to Analytic moral philosophers who view conscience as an impossible ethical sense organ, yoga philosophy regards it as a crucial element in the development of individuals as ideal ethical observers. Such observers (contra Kant and Mill) do not rely on a single rule or calculus to cover all cases, but rather take into account all of the complex factors involved in any given situation requiring ethical action.
Character Ethics
In yogic traditions, the question of properties is not a primary concern, as ethics is primarily focused on character development. The ethics of yoga is character ethics, but one that says: “You’ve got to be good in order to know the good.” A good analogy is musicality. In order to know great music, you have to be, to some degree, a musician. Similarly, in order to properly recognize moral value, we must first participate in the generative activity of ethical valuation by cultivating virtuous character traits.
Recap
In contrast to Western analytic philosophers who focus on the question of properties to determine ethical value, the yogic tradition emphasizes character development as the primary concern. According to yoga, ethical cognition is dependent on one’s level of moral development, much like musicality is dependent on one’s level of musicianship. Therefore, in order to properly cognize ethical values, one must actively participate in the cognitive valuation process. This concept of value cognition challenges traditional Western approaches to ethics and offers a unique perspective on moral development.
METHOD
Watch this video before the event:
About Our Guest Expert
Stephen Phillips is highly acclaimed for his pioneering and exhaustively annotated and indexed translations of late classical Sanskrit philosophical texts.
In addition to these seminal works, beginners and intermediate philosophical readers may also enjoy the more accessible titles listed at the end of our last session.
UPDATE: The materials for last week are now available for download HERE.