What do we mean by "I"? presented by Professor Mauri

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When we say, “I am fat,” the “I” seems to denote the physical body. What do we mean by “I,” then, when we say, “I know”? Does it also refer to the same physical entity or possibly to something different? Questions like these were seriously discussed among various schools of Indian philosophy in close connection with the existence of ‘soul’ or some other permanent subjective principle (atman in Sanskrit). This lecture introduces lively debates concerning such issues that were developed by materialists, Buddhist advocates of impermanence and non-self, Nyaya and other orthodox ‘soul’-supporting philosophers. Special attention will be paid to reports deriving from Jayanta, a poet and philosopher who flourished in the latter half of the 9th century in Kashmir.

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Philosophy, Mānoa Campus

More Information
(808) 956-8649, philo@hawaii.edu, http://hawaii.edu/phil/

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