Sutras & Stuff: A Philosophy Podcast

In this episode, I talk with Catherine Tan, Philosophy Lecturer at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, about Indian materialism, skepticism, and overlaps with Chinese Philosophy. April 11, 2026: This is a revised version of the original podcast. The episode now includes spoken credit for Kevin MacLeod’s music, “Brittle Rille,” which I use for the show. Further Resources Christine Tan’s website: https:/...

It seems like everyone, from companies to online influencersto fitness coaches, talk about having mantras. But what are mantras,anyway? In this episode, we'll talk about how they compare to birdsong, Tibetansinging bowls, and spells at Hogwarts, as well as some ancient debates aboutwhether they mean anything, and why that matters.   Listen to more episodes of Sutras & Stuff at www.sutrasan...

Just keep swimming! Title Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Does what goes around always come around? And is instant karma gonna get you? In the first episode of a season devoted to Sanskrit-to-English loanwords, we’ll examine how three groups of Indian philosophers understand karma: Jains, Buddhists, and Naiyayikas (or Nyaya philosophers). Sounds and Music All music excerpts and soundbites used with an understanding of fair use modification for educationa...

Taylor Swift says karma is her boyfriend, and Boy George sings about karma chameleons. In addition to “karma,” there are lots of other Sanskrit terms which have made their way into English: yoga, dharma, mantra, guru, Buddha, swastika, and more. In this season, we’ll focus on one word an episode to get a deeper understanding of what they meant in their original contexts, and how these meanings res...

In this episode, I talk with Tom Davies, Seymour Reader in Ancient History and Philosophy at the University of Melbourne, about how understanding Indian philosophy in relationship with the rest of the ancient world helps us reflect on what philosophy is, as a human activity, in different cultural contexts. Note : This is the final episode of the regular season, concluding the series of interviews...

In this episode, I talk with Robin Zheng, Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, about connections between social practices and knowing in premodern Indian philosophy and contemporary feminist philosophy. April 11, 2026: This is a revised version of the original podcast. The episode now includes spoken credit for Kevin MacLeod’s music, “Brittle Rille,” which I use for the show. Further Reso...

In this episode, I talk with Cathay Liu, Senior Lecturer at the National University of Singapore, about philosophical systems and both Indian and European philosophy in the 17th century. April 11, 2026: This is a revised version of the original podcast. The episode now includes spoken credit for Kevin MacLeod’s music, “Brittle Rille,” which I use for the show. Further Resources Rene Descartes http...

In this episode, I talk with Neil Mehta, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Yale-NUS, about what exists and what we can say about it. April 11, 2026: This is a revised version of the original podcast. The episode now includes spoken credit for Kevin MacLeod’s music, “Brittle Rille,” which I use for the show. Further Resources Neil Mehta’s website: http://www.profneilmehta.com/ Theory of Two Trut...

In this episode, I talk with Matthew Walker, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Yale-NUS, about ancient philosophy, therapeutic arguments, reading practices, and the Bhagavad Gita. April 11, 2026: This is a revised version of the original podcast. The episode now includes spoken credit for Kevin MacLeod’s music, “Brittle Rille,” which I use for the show. Further Resources Matt Walker’s website:...

In this episode, I talk with Jay Garfield, Professor of Philosophy at Smith College, about the Buddhist philosopher Candrakirti and how teaching Indian philosophy at Yale-NUS impacted his understanding of Western philosophers like Hume. April 11, 2026: This is a revised version of the original podcast. The episode now includes spoken credit for Kevin MacLeod’s music, “Brittle Rille,” which I use f...

In this episode, I talk with Kathryn Muyskens, Philosophy Lecturer at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, about the Buddhist philosopher Shantideva and bioethics, health care, and compassion. April 11, 2026: This is a revised version of the original podcast. The episode now includes spoken credit for Kevin MacLeod’s music, “Brittle Rille,” which I use for the show. Further Resources Kathryn Muyskens’ p...

Content note: There's one instance of the "F-word" in English towards the end of the interview. In this episode, I talk with Andrew Bailey, Associate Professor of philosophy at Yale-NUS College in Singapore about the Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna and analytic metaphysics, Gandhi on technology, and Nyaya philosophers on inference. April 11, 2026: This is a revised version of the orig...

In this episode, I talk with Bryan Van Norden, Professor of philosophy at Vassar College in the United States about how he came to Indian philosophy, what he enjoys about teaching it, as well as connections between ideas about knowing in Indian and Chinese philosophy. April 11, 2026: This is a revised version of the original podcast. The episode now includes spoken credit for Kevin MacLeod’s music...

How does a 9th century Nyaya philosopher addresses the intersection of religious conflict and ruling power in India? Are feelings of offense reason to exclude certain religious practices? What lessons can we take from Nyaya philosophers on religious toleration, and are they internally consistent here? To read the whole play, get the Clay Sanskrit Library translation of Much Ado about Religion by C...

Join our hero Sankarshana as he travels around the kingdom, vanquishing foes...with reason. Part 1 of 2. To read the whole play, get the Clay Sanskrit Library translation of Much Ado about Religion by Csaba Dezsö, published 2005 by NYU Press. https://nyupress.org/9780814719794/much-ado-about-religion/

When is a door not really a door? When it's ajar! That old joke equivocates on two meanings of "ajar" In this episode we look at how equivocation can impact our reasoning, like when we ask, When is a doctor not really a doctor? We explore a few other ways that reasoning can go wrong and force us to lose in a debate. And listen until the end to hear what's planned for Episode 9. A...

Quick announcement about Episodes 8 through 10.

Sutras (and stuff) will return next week for a new episode. Apologies for the delay and thanks for your patience!

We can’t directly see it but we know it exists by extending our vision with special tools. We can reason about when it’s present based on associations. We can share facts about it with each other. And we can learn its name by comparing it to other similar kinds of things. I’m talking about the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, and in this episode we’ll focus on how early Nyāya philosophers might exp...

When I started this podcast in February 2020, I envisioned a first season of ten episodes. I wrote, recorded, and scheduled the most recent episode (Episode 8) before the nationwide protests  against police brutality began in the United States, which is my country of origin and my current home while I am on leave from my college. Given current events, even though I strongly believe that philo...

Binge-watching. You sit down, popcorn and soda at the ready, and before you know it, three hours have gone by and Netflix pops up with a message: “Are you still watching?”  While binge-watching is a fairly new English phrase (attested by the OED back to 1998 in verb form) in the sense of “overindulgence,” binging goes back to the 19th century, associated with gluttony. While binging on televi...

Do you wish things were different right now? Is there some experience you used to have that you miss? Are you having unpleasant feelings? If so, you've got a lot in common with Buddhist practitioners and philosophers from the 4th century CE. In this episode, I speak with Bryce Huebner, Provost's Distinguished Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. We talk ab...

Who should you listen to? Now, more than ever before, we have access to advice from a range of self-proclaimed experts. Anyone with a webcam and an Internet connection can dole out advice. But how do we tell if someone is trustworthy? In this episode, I test some so-called experts based on the requirements from Nyaya philosophers. Let's see who makes the cut... Sources and Links Quotes from Caraka...

Who should you listen to? Now, more than ever before, we have access to advice from a range of self-proclaimed experts. Anyone with a webcam and an Internet connection can dole out advice. But how do we tell if someone is trustworthy? In the next episode, I test some so-called experts based on the requirements from Nyaya philosophers, with a litle help from Caraka. Let's see who makes the cut... B...