Dear Aleksandar and Dan,

Thank you both for those helpful tips! They at least give me places to extend 
my search.

All the best!

Jeff
 


> On Jun 23, 2024, at 3:07 PM, Dan Lusthaus <[email protected]> wrote:
> 
> Dear Jeff, Matt, Alexandra, et al.,
> 
> My recollection (unfortunately from decades ago) is that Vallabha advances an 
> ontological argument analogous to Anselm. Too long ago to recall specific 
> sources. Is anyone on the list a Vallabha specialist able to confirm or deny 
> that?
> 
> Best,
> Dan
> 
>> On Jun 23, 2024, at 1:32 PM, Uskokov, Aleksandar via INDOLOGY 
>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>> 
>> Dear Jeff and Matthew,
>> 
>> On the conceivability, I had thought once that the TaittirIya section on the 
>> gradation of bliss that is followed by the famous verse--yato vAco 
>> nivartante aprApya manasA saha AnandaM brahmaNo vidvAn na bibheti 
>> kutazcana--shares something with Anselm's argument. This appears in related 
>> iterations. But that strange jump from conceivability to necessary being is, 
>> I think, what is unique to the ontological argument, and I don't think it 
>> shares much, if anything, with Shankara's self-evidentiality of oneself or 
>> anything related. Perhaps what comes closest is Shankara's--and 
>> Bhartrhari's--argument that Being must be predicated of everything, not as 
>> anything specific but as pure Being. But this comes from an incomparably 
>> different place and concerns.
>> 
>> Yours,
>> Aleksandar 
>> 
>> Get Outlook for Android <https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg>
>> From: INDOLOGY <[email protected]> on behalf of Jeffery 
>> Long via INDOLOGY <[email protected]>
>> Sent: Sunday, June 23, 2024 1:08:17 PM
>> To: Matthew Kapstein <[email protected]>
>> Cc: Indology List <[email protected]>
>> Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Analogues to Anselm's Ontological Arguments in 
>> Indian Philosophy?
>>  
>> Thank you, Matthew!
>> 
>> That is my impression as well: that there is nothing quite similar to or 
>> even analogous to Anselm’s arguments in Indian philosophical traditions. As 
>> you say, Gaṅgeśa and others in the Nyāya and Navya-Nyāya traditions 
>> developed arguments closer to the Western cosmological and design arguments. 
>> I have thus far not found anything quite like Anselm’s arguments.
>> 
>> I’ll be happy to learn if something is out there with which I am unfamiliar.
>> 
>> All the best!
>> 
>> Jeff
>>  
>>> On Jun 23, 2024, at 12:55 PM, Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY 
>>> <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>>> But Jeff,
>>>> Anselm’s argument is not about self-evidence per se, it’s about 
>>>> conceivability, and in its second iteration, necessary being. I’m not 
>>>> aware of close analogues in Indian philosophy. The classical theistic 
>>>> arguments seem to mostly resemble the Western cosmological and design 
>>>> arguments. 
>>>> 
>>>> There are some interesting developments in GaNgeza, of course, but I think 
>>>> still not along the lines of the ontological argument. 
>>>> 
>>>> best
>>>> Matthew 
>>>> 
>>>> Sent from Proton Mail <https://proton.me/mail/home> for iOS
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> On Sun, Jun 23, 2024 at 18:17, Jeffery Long via INDOLOGY 
>>>> <[email protected] <mailto:On Sun, Jun 23, 2024 at 18:17, 
>>>> Jeffery Long via INDOLOGY <<a href=>> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> Dear Colleagues,
>>>>> 
>>>>> Forgive me if this question has already been raised at some point on this 
>>>>> list.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Are any of you aware of arguments developed in Indian philosophical 
>>>>> systems akin to the ontological arguments for the existence of God raised 
>>>>> by St. Anselm? The closest thing I can think of is Śaṅkara’s argument 
>>>>> that existence is self-evident.
>>>>> 
>>>>> With much gratitude in advance,
>>>>> 
>>>>> Jeff
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Dr. Jeffery D. Long
>>>>> Carl W. Zeigler Professor of Religion, Philosophy, & Asian Studies
>>>>> School of Arts & Humanities
>>>>> Elizabethtown College
>>>>> Elizabethtown, PA
>>>>>  
>>>>> https://etown.academia.edu/JefferyLong
>>>>>  
>>>>> Series Editor, Explorations in Indic Traditions: Ethical, Philosophical, 
>>>>> and Theological
>>>>> Lexington Books
>>>>>  
>>>>> “One who makes a habit of prayer and meditation will easily overcome all 
>>>>> difficulties and remain calm and unruffled in the midst of the trials of 
>>>>> life.”  (Holy Mother Sarada Devi)
>>>>>  
>>>>> “We are a way for the Cosmos to know itself.” (Carl Sagan)
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>>>  
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>> 
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