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Call for Papers Theme: Greece and India Type: International Conference Institution: University of Exeter Location: Exeter (United Kingdom) Date: 9.–12.7.2014 Deadline: 31.1.2014 __________________________________________________ Proposals are invited for 30-minute papers at a Conference on Indian and Greek Thought, at the University of Exeter, July 9-12, 2014. This is part of the AHRC funded project 'Ātman and Psyche. Cosmology and the Self in Ancient India and Ancient Greece', conducted by Dr. Richard Fynes of de Montfort University and Professor Richard Seaford of the University of Exeter. In the period 700-323 BCE we find in India and in Greece new conceptions of the universe, and of the place of humankind in it, that have much in common with each other. For example, in both India and Greece, - in striking contrast to the tradition of anthropomorphic polytheism, a single all-embracing formless entity is elevated above multiplicity, change, and the particularity of form; - the single entity, which tends towards abstraction, and the individual self (or soul) are assimilated to each other, in what may be called subjective monism; - it is believed that through good actions we can escape from a cycle of reincarnation that is both indiscriminate (in the sense that we may be transformed into anything living) and painful. How do we explain the striking similarity and approximate simultaneity of this new kind of cosmology in India and Greece? The usual answer is that there was influence, in one direction or the other. Such an explanation cannot be excluded, but it is undemonstrable, implausible, and unnecessary. There is in this period almost no evidence for Greek knowledge of India (as opposed to fantasy) or Indian knowledge of Greece. And nothing like this combination of ideas is found anywhere else. In particular, the absence of all three ideas from the vast area between Greece and India tells against the hypothesis of influence between them. More relevant, it may be tentatively suggested, is that in this period the societies that most resemble the urbanisation, commercialisation and monetisation of the Greek city-states are to be found in the Gangetic plain. Rather than influence, we should consider the possibility of parallel autonomous intellectual development based on similarity of socio-economic development. If influence mattered, it was most likely to be indirect influence on commercial practices that in turned influenced intellectual transformation. Such similarities of ideas have given support to the idea of an Axial Age, in which there occurred fundamental transformations of thought in Israel, Iran, and China as well as in Greece and in India. But research into the explanation of this phenomenon has been hampered by the lack of sustained full-time collaboration between specialists in Axial Age cultures and by the failure to take into account the socio-economic evidence. Our project proposes a first step to remedy both these defects, and thereby to contribute to the study of the Axial Age as a whole. So, the theme of the conference is the striking similarities (and reasons for the similarities) in philosophical thought between India and Greece in the period before Alexander crossed the Indus in 326 BCE. Papers that concentrate mainly on one or other of the two cultures, or on a later period, are not necessarily ineligible, provided that they are likely to stimulate discussion of the main theme. If you would like to be on the circulation list, please contact <[email protected]>. If you would also like to give a paper, please send an abstract (300 words maximum). Funding may be available for the expenses of those giving papers. Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31 January 2014. Contact: Prof. Richard Seaford Department of Classics and Ancient History University of Exeter Amory Building Rennes Drive Exeter, EX4 4RJ United Kingdom Email: [email protected] Web: http://atmanandpsyche.exeter.ac.uk __________________________________________________ InterPhil List Administration: http://interphil.polylog.org Intercultural Philosophy Calendar: http://cal.polylog.org __________________________________________________
