“The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition is that it consists of a series of footnotes to Plato.”
–Alfred North Whitehead

Schelling’s and Shankara’s Nondual Visions [audio and video]

I was recently in dialogue with a friend and colleague at CIIS, James Barnes. We discussed the convergences and divergences in the thoughts of Schelling and Shankara. To what extent were both after a nondual philosophy? I suggested that Schelling ends up affirming a trinitarian view of Godhead that preserves differentiation (though still a differentiation-in-unity) for the sake of freedom and love, whereas more strictly nondual systems like Advaita Vedanta leave us having to deny these as, at best, relative possibilities, and at worst, falsehoods.

*Turns out I wrote “centripetal” and “centrifugal” in reverse in the chart in the video. The bottom black circle has a centrifugal movement, while the top white circle has a centripetal.

video:

audio:

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6 responses to “Schelling’s and Shankara’s Nondual Visions [audio and video]”

    1. Matthew David Segall Avatar

      Thanks for the link. I am enjoying this.

      Kant says somewhere “to know the world, the mind must manufacture it.” The “success” (in terms of entropy production) of techno-scientific capitalism comes to mind as a practical confirmation of his statement. Except that techno-science is more about know-how (the practical) and not know-what (the theoretical). Natural Science has plenty of what it calls theory, but I think Schelling would deny that that it is true theory, but would argue that scientific naturalism for the most part remains at the level of model building. To theorize nature would be to become conscious of the idea at work (theurgy) in nature, to bring it to mind a posteriori (anemnesis).

      1. Matthew David Segall Avatar

        Anemnesis for Plato is not unlike anemnesis for Schelling, who called it the philosophy of mythology and of revelation.

      2. dmf Avatar
        dmf

        glad it was of some use/pleasure, it was a rich conference and I’m grateful that they made it publicly available.

  1. Matthew David Segall Avatar

    Turns out I wrote “centripetal” and “centrifugal” in reverse in the chart in the video. The bottom black circle has a centrifugal movement, while the top white circle has a centripetal.

  2. Fragments of a Romantic Theory of Evolution | Footnotes to Plato Avatar

    […] Schelling’s and Shankara’s Nondual Visions (footnotes2plato.com) […]

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