Learning from Buddhist Logic - A Cross-Cultural Workshop on the Philosophy of Logic

Buddhist philosophers have examined the techniques and methodologies of debate and argumentation. They have investigated the logical principles that underlie rational argumentation and reasoning. These investigations started in India and engaged philosophers in China, Japan, Korea and Tibet. Many competing theories of logic and its relation to reasoning and rationality have been developed and studied by traditional and contemporary Buddhist scholars. In the contemporary literature in logic and the philosophy of logic, however, this rich Buddhist material on logic is hardly discussed or even known.

The aim of the workshop is to bring together some of the leading scholars of Buddhist (and Indian) logic and contemporary philosophers of logic in order to foster interdisciplinary interactions between them. The workshop's objectives are (a) to demonstrate how Buddhist material on logic is relevant to contemporary Western debates about the nature of logic, (b) to develop new points of cross-traditional and cross-cultural dialogue, and (c) to foster intellectual engagement between Asian and Western philosophers and thereby help diversify the profession of philosophy.

Each session of the workshop will consist of a presentation by an internationally renowned Buddhist or Indian scholar followed by a presentation by a philosopher of an international research profile who will not just comment on the previous presentation but develop or challenge the ideas presented by the previous presentation. Audience will then be invited to raise questions and engage with the discussions. The workshop will be a real interaction between the scholars of Buddhist (and Indian) logic and philosophers of logic who are not familiar with Buddhist material.

Speakers: Szymon Bogacz (ANU), Brendan Gillon (McGill), Marie-Hélène Gorisse (Ghent), Bryce Huebner (Georgetown), Carrie Jenkins (UBC), Ed Mares (Wellington), Danielle Macbeth (Haverford), Parimal Patil (Harvard), Graham Priest (CUNY Graduate Center), Gila Sher (UC San Diego), Koji Tanaka (ANU), Audrey Yap (Victoria).

Registration is free, but please register for catering purposes.