Lecture (Ex Oriente) by Dr. Marco Ferrante (April 17, 2024)

The Center for Comparative Studies on the Philosophy of the East and the West (Faculty of Philosophy, University of Warsaw) invites you to an open lecture from the Ex Oriente series entitled “Bhartṛhari’s View of Universals: Exploring South Asian and Euro-American Philosophical Resonances.” It will be delivered by Dr. Marco Ferrante in room 4 at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Warsaw (Krakowskie Przedmieście 3). Below is the abstract.

Dr. Marco Ferrante is an employee of the Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia, Austrian Academy of Sciences. Here is the abstract of his speech:

The aim of this lecture is to explore the conception of universals as put forth by the South Asian philosopher and linguist Bhartṛhari (5th c. CE), a theory that spans the domains of ontology and philosophy of language. A central focus of the discussion will revolve around Bhartṛhari’s arguably most brilliant insight: the recognition that the fundamental issue that the concept of ‘universal’ seeks to resolve – the so called ‘problem of attribute agreement’ – extends beyond the confines of ontology and finds its relevance within the sphere of language. After having contextualized Bhartṛhari’s work within the coeval South Asian debate, we will explore the relevance of his intuitions for contemporary Euro-American philosophy. In particular, we will investigate whether Bhartṛhari’s approach holds the potential to offer valuable insights in addressing a recurring challenge faced by universal realists – the potential regressions of universals.