This book could be seen as a novel method of tracing the history of a scripture. Jacob P. Dalton does this by “tracing the vicissitudes of a single ritual system—that of the Gathering of Intentions Sutra (Dgongs pa ’dus pa’i mdo)—from its ninth-century origins to the present day” (xv). This tantra is referred to as the “root tantra” and i…[Read more]

This book could be seen as a novel method of tracing the history of a scripture. Jacob P. Dalton does this by “tracing the vicissitudes of a single ritual system—that of the Gathering of Intentions Sutra (Dgongs pa ’dus pa’i mdo)—from its ninth-century origins to the present day” (xv). This tantra is referred to as the “root tantra” and i…[Read more]

In this bilingual edition with the original French, François Laruelle envisions a discipline of non-photography by concentrating on what photography is and not what it becomes. He emphasises the immanence of photography as opposed to its externality. He concludes that there is an ‘a priori photographic intuition’ and that a ‘photographic appara…[Read more]

Through this work, François Laruelle looks at non-philosophers from various angles. He seeks to look at them from a humane perspective and as ‘subjects of knowledge’ (25). He argues that ‘non-philosophy is a close relative of the spiritual but definitely not the spiritualist’ (26).

Through this work, François Laruelle looks at non-philosophers from various angles. He seeks to look at them from a humane perspective and as ‘subjects of knowledge’ (25). He argues that ‘non-philosophy is a close relative of the spiritual but definitely not the spiritualist’ (26).

Religious leaders often come together for a statement of their respective beliefs seeking a false satisfaction that they are working for world peace by a disparate series of talks meant to only emphasize differences among faith traditions. This book is a welcome departure from such meaningless exercises and hopes to create a tradition of…[Read more]

François Laruelle’s non-standard philosophy seeks to redefine the conventional modes of thinking, not just in the sphere of philosophy but also in the fields of aesthetics, religion, sociology, and other allied disciplines. In this volume, Laruelle questions the ‘fiction’ of photography by establishing that ‘photo-fiction is precisely the passage…[Read more]

François Laruelle’s non-standard philosophy is necessary for the survival or popularity of philosophy according to Laruelle: ‘Philosophy can only really become “for all” or “popular” by becoming non-philosophy’ (cover). Non-philosophy is not no philosophy but a different approach to philosophising where philosophy is not the main thing but the ‘real’ is.

Signe Cohen has done a marvelous job of editing and authoring the majority of the chapters in The Upanishads, giving readers a rich treatment of the history, culture, and philosophy contained within them. Her introduction sheds light on many aspects of the Upanishads. It is interesting, though, that while she analyzes the meaning of the word…[Read more]

Translating a Sanskrit text is a highly challenging task. The difficulty only gets compounded if it is a Vedic text, because the Vedas use a Sanskrit that is quite different from the Sanskrit used in other literature. To translate the Rig Veda into English requires great patience and great scholarship. Stephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton…[Read more]

Review of the book ‘Intellectuals and Power’ by Francois Laruelle

Review of the book ‘Cut of the Real’ by Katerina Kolozova

Galloway critically examines how François Laruelle’s non-standard philosophy subverts the digital question. Clarifying the philosophical nature of the digital concept, Galloway proceeds to show that non-standard philosophy is an attempt to come out of the authoritarian stance that traditional philosophy takes and to show that there could be a no…[Read more]

Galloway critically examines how François Laruelle’s non-standard philosophy subverts the digital question. Clarifying the philosophical nature of the digital concept, Galloway proceeds to show that non-standard philosophy is an attempt to come out of the authoritarian stance that traditional philosophy takes and to show that there could be a no…[Read more]

François Laruelle is a radical thinker, to say the least. He started the non-philosophy project several decades ago and developed it in five stages. Now, he prefers to call it non-standard philosophy. Laruelle’s thought and the treatment meted out to it by the academia brings to light the fact that even philosophy, which is supposed to be the vo…[Read more]

Extending his non-philosophical thought to examining possibilities of a redfinition of Marxism, in this volume François Laruelle shows that in the light of the apparent failure of Marxism or communism, we need to explore the ‘single cause-of-the-last-instance for this failure’ (12). Another reason for this failure could be, according to Laru…[Read more]

There are two kinds of academic writing, if we classify the work by the nature of the author’s expertise. The first one, the most prevalent, is the kind of writing that is born out of the scholarly work of the author and is primarily based on research and teaching experience. The second kind, comparatively harder to come by, is the writing of a s…[Read more]

There are two kinds of academic writing, if we classify the work by the nature of the author’s expertise. The first one, the most prevalent, is the kind of writing that is born out of the scholarly work of the author and is primarily based on research and teaching experience. The second kind, comparatively harder to come by, is the writing of a s…[Read more]

Interreligious comparisons have been an interesting subject for both religious individuals and academics. The language of comparison has been contested by almost all who rely upon it, from some Western scholars who started such comparisons at the turn of the twentieth century, to phenomenologists and postmodernists. This range of disparate views…[Read more]

Interreligious comparisons have been an interesting subject for both religious individuals and academics. The language of comparison has been contested by almost all who rely upon it, from some Western scholars who started such comparisons at the turn of the twentieth century, to phenomenologists and postmodernists. This range of disparate views…[Read more]