The Ashoka University Department of Philosophy invites everyone to its second colloquium of the Monsoon 2026 semester

Speaker: Alex Watson (Ashoka University)

Title of talk: Can we perceive our selves? Kumārila on I-cognition

Venue: Online, at this link.

Date and Time: Wednesday, 30 September 2026, 13:30-15:00.

Abstract: Part I will consist of a close reading and philosophical evaluation of the first extended and sophisticated argument in Indian philosophy for the thesis that each of us can perceive our own self – that of the MÄ«māṃsaka thinker, Kumārila (c. 550–650).  Kumārila points to an experience that he claims we all have, termed 'I-cognition' (ahampratyaya), and argues, against Cārvākas and Buddhists, that what we encounter in that experience is the self.  Neither the Cārvākas nor the Buddhists deny that we have this kind of cognition, but they dispute that its object is the self.  We will observe Kumārila's arguments against the Cārvāka view that its object is the body, and then turn to his extended argument against the Buddhists.  

Part II will give an account of some of the subsequent developments in the history of this particular issue.  There was unease among MÄ«māṃsakas themselves over how one thing (the self) could be both agent and object of one and the same cognition.  The tension within MÄ«māṃsā was particularly acute, for they themselves argued against Buddhist idealism on the grounds that it is impossible for one thing (consciousness) to be both agent and object of cognition.  We will observe how the attempt to address this tension led to three significant modifications of Kumārila's view.

Contact: simon.brown@ashoka.edu.in