New course on non-Western philosophy

As part of ongoing efforts to diversify the teaching at our department, we offer in spring 2026 a newly developed course in non-Western philosophy, focusing on the classical Indian school of Jainism. 

Alongside Buddhism and Cārvāka materialism, Jainism is one of the "heterodox" schools that reject the authority of the Vedic scriptures. It is said to go back to the teaching of Mahāvirā, a sage who probably lived in the 6th or 5th century BC, and it has since then existed as a continuous tradition of philosophical thought and religious practice. Among the characteristic tenets of Jainism are a radical ethics of non-violence (ahiṁsā), and a perspectival account of knowledge and logic known as anekāntavāda. 

Like the thinkers of other Indian schools, Jain philosophers have since antiquity engaged in sophisticated ways with many topics that are still with us in philosophy. Examples for such topics that are covered in this course are the nature of knowledge and self-knowledge, the ontology of the self, the relation between mind and matter, the role of agents' intentions and knowledge in ethical evaluations, and even topics in logic and philosophy of language like the distinction between sense and reference, and in social ontology like the social construction of categories like caste. Nevertheless, Jainism and other Indian traditions have been systematically excluded from the way the history of philosophy is understood and taught in the West. 

The focus of the course will be on a joint attempt to understand and philosophically engage with central Jain concepts, positions and arguments, mostly as they are put forward in original texts (that we study in English translations), also in dialogue with other Indian schools like Buddhism and Cārvāka and with contemporary philosophy. Through the engagement with Jain thought and its relation to other schools, the course also aims to give participants knowledge and resources that enable them to approach other schools and authors in classical Indian philosophy on their own. 

For more information, please consult the mitt.uib-page of the course (sign-in is required): 

FIL231: ​​https://mitt.uib.no/courses/58094

FIL310: https://mitt.uib.no/courses/58138

The course is developed and taught by Franz Knappik (franz.knappik@uib.no). Feel free to contact him for any questions, and vel møtt!