S3 E7: Neil Mehta

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://tanchristineabigail.com/ Cārvāka: https://iep.utm.edu/indmat Podcast Episodes on Jayanta Bhatta’s play: Part 1: https://anchor.fm/malcolm-keating/episodes/Episode-9-Much-Ado-about-Religion--Part-1-eovu0c Part 2: https://anchor.fm/malcolm-keating/episodes/Much-Ado-about-Religion-Part-2-epn4fc Music Credits: “Brittle Rille,” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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.sutrasandstuff.com. Sounds and MusicAll music excerpts and soundbites used with an understandingof fair use modification for educational purposes.Theme music by­ https://incompetech.filmmusic.io Kevin MacLeod’s music Title Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/LoungeAmbient Music Loop by user orangefree sound, posted to Freesound.com on July 8,2014. https://freesound.org/people/orangefreesounds/sounds/242080/Tibetan Chantingby user djgriffin, posted to Freesound.com on February 7, 2006. https://freesound.org/people/djgriffin/sounds/15488/SourcesDocumentary Educational Resources. “Altar of Fire – Preview.”YouTube video, posted Sept 19, 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvvI3bIAgVA Dictionary.com. “The Meanings Behind “Harry Potter” Spells.”July 29, 2019. https://www.dictionary.com/e/s/rowling-spells/ Grimes, Samuel. “Where Did ‘Tibetan’ Singing Bowls ReallyCome From?” Tricyle. Mar 4, 2020. https://tricycle.org/article/tibetan-singing-bowls/ McGill University. “Do Birdsong and Human Speech ShareBiological Roots?” YouTube video, posted Nov 22, 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heMy6dlWvkQ Staal, Frits. “Mantras and Bird Songs.” Journal of theAmerican Oriental Society 105, no. 3 (1985): 549-558.

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 MusicAll music excerpts and soundbites used with an understanding of fair use modification for educational purposes.Drake featuring Bryson Tiller, “Bad Karma”Alicia Keys, “Karma”John Lennon and Yoko Ono with The Plastic Ono Band, “Instant Karma! (We all Shine On)”Taylor Swift, “Karma”Indigo Girls, “Galileo”Culture Club, “Karma Chameleon”Fox News clips:Joey Jones, July 2021Sean Hannity, August 2017Theme music by­ https://incompetech.filmmusic.io Kevin MacLeod’s musicTitle Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Bibliography and Further ReadingMy YouTube lecture on Milinda’s Questions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rBqC43PK8QBronkhorst, Johannes. Karma. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2011. http://muse.jhu.edu/pub/5/monograph/book/1739.Finnegan, Bronwyn. “Karma, Responsibility, and Buddhist Ethics.” In The Oxford Handbook of Moral Psychology, by Manuel Vargas and John Doris, 7–23. Oxford University Press, 2022.McDermott, James. “Kamma in the Milindapañha.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 97, no. 4 (October - December 1977): 460-468.Hermann Jacobi’s translation of the Ācāraṅgasūtrahttps://www.wisdomlib.org/jainism/book/acaranga-sutra

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 resonate today.Episodes of Season Four will air the first Friday of every month, beginning January 6, 2023. Subscribe anywhere you can download podcasts.Music & Effects Credits:"Brittle Rille" by Kevin MacLeodLink: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3460-brittle-rilleLicense: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Title Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"Karma" by Taylor SwiftExcerpts used for educational purposes based on fair use principlesRecord Scratch by user luffyLink: https://freesound.org/people/luffy/sounds/3536/

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 with philosophers who taught Philosophy and Political Thought at Yale-NUS. Not every philosopher participated, but interviews with all those who did are now available as episodes one through ten. 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 ResourcesTom Davies on Academia.edu: https://yale-nus.academia.edu/TomHerculesDaviesAncient Egyptian Philosophy at Philosophy Now: https://philosophynow.org/issues/128/Does_Western_Philosophy_Have_Egyptian_RootsHannah Arendt: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/arendt/Music Credits:“Brittle Rille,” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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 Resources:Robin Zheng’s website: https://www.robin-zheng.me/Helen Longino: https://philosophy.stanford.edu/people/helen-longinoMiranda Fricker: https://www.mirandafricker.com/Christy Dotson: https://lsa.umich.edu/philosophy/people/faculty/kldotson.htmlDebating: https://sutrasandstuff.wordpress.com/2020/11/23/debating/Questions of King Milinda, Book II (Rhys Davids): https://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/sbe35/sbe3504.htmMusic Credits:“Brittle Rille,” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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 ResourcesRene Descartes https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/The Tarkasamgraha at https://archive.org/details/tarka-samgraha-ramkrishna-mission/mode/2upHow to Think Like a Nyāya Philosopher, Annambhatta's Primer on Reasoning (Part 1 of 4)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L14Q87r24IsThe Craft of Research https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo23521678.htmlMusic Credits:“Brittle Rille,” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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 ResourcesNeil Mehta’s website: http://www.profneilmehta.com/Theory of Two Truths in India: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/twotruths-india/Graham Priest’s website: https://grahampriest.netMetaphysics of grounding: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/grounding/Nagarjuna: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nagarjuna/Music Credits:“Brittle Rille,” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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 ResourcesMatt Walker’s website: https://sites.google.com/site/mattwalker2000/homeAristotle on the Uses of Contemplation: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/aristotle-on-the-uses-of-contemplation/14962F5B7153012A256FB48B5A27CCE8Aristotle https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle/Zhu Xi https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/zhu-xi/Emotions in Indian Philosophy https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/concept-emotion-india/Music Credits:“Brittle Rille,” Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/