Dialogue and Doxography in Indian Philosophy

This is the first book fully dedicated to Indian philosophical doxography. It examines the function such dialectical texts were intended to serve in the intellectual and religious life of their public. It looks at Indian doxography both as a witness of inter- and intra-sectarian dialogues and as a religious phenomenon. It argues that doxographies represent dialectical exercises, indicative of a peculiar religious attitude to plurality, and locate these exercises within a known form of yoga dedicated to the cultivation of knowledge or gnosis (jana). Concretely, the book presents a critical examination of three Sanskrit doxographies: the Madhyamakahdayakarika of the Buddhist Bhaviveka, the adarsanasamuccaya of the Jain Haribhadra, and the Sarvasiddhantasagraha attributed to the Advaitin Sakara, focusing on each of their respective presentation of the Mimasa view. It is the first time that the genre of doxography is considered beyond its literary format to ponder its performative dimension, as a spiritual exercise. Theoretically broad, the book reaches out to academics in religious studies, Indian philosophy, Indology, and classical studies.