Dr. Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette

Assistant Professor

Dr. Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette obtained his PhD (2018) in Indian Philosophies from the Institute for Indology and Tibetology of the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, in Munich, Germany. He is now Assistant Professor at the Department of Philosophy (DoP) at MAHE. He published extensively on the early developments of Sanskrit philosophical doxography and now researches on the phenomena of list-making and taxonomy within the spiritual exercises of South-Asian gnostic yogas. In general, he is exploring the ancient South-Asian intellectual dimensions of spiritual life, especially in the scholastic and ascetic aspects of their expression. In brief, he has taken interest in what he describes as the ‘yoga of reason’, or the ‘path of knowledge’ (jnana-yoga) pursued by Gnostics belonging either to the Hindu, Buddhist, or Jain traditions.

Qualification: Bachelor of Arts from Laval University, Canada 2005 /Master of Arts from Laval University, Canada 2011 /Master of Arts from Jawaharlal Nehru University, India 2013 /Doctor of Philosophy from LMU Munich, Germany 2018

CURRENT ACADEMIC ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES

    I am currently teaching Indian forms of ontology.

SUBJECTS CURRENTLY TEACHING

Subject Semester / Year
Indian Metaphysics MS2
Vedic Ethics MS
Clinical Philosophy MS3
Critical Thinking Open Elective
Metaphysics 2 MS3
Philosophy MS1

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

Degree Specialisation Institute Year of passing
PhD Indology Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität 2018
MA Sanskrit Jawaharlal Nehru University 2013
MA Sciences of Religions Université Laval 2011
BA Ancient Studies Université Laval 2005
College Degree (DEC) Journalism, Art and Technologies of Media Cégep de Jonquière 2002

Experience

Institution / Organisation Designation Role Tenure
FWO (Ghent University) Post-Doctoral Fellowship PI Post-Doctoral Researcher N/A
Gonda Foundation of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW at Leiden University) Post-Doctoral Fellowship Post-Doctoral Researcher N/A
Graduiertenschule, Distant Worlds, Munich Grduate School For Ancient Studies Doctoral Fellow, Organization of Coexistence Doctoral Researcher N/A

List-Making as Spiritual Exercise Philosophy, Taxonomy, and Renunciation in Gnostic Yogas

South-Asian Gnosticism; Taxonomy; Spiritual Exercises

My current research project examines the significance of taxonomical list-making as a determining feature of ‘spiritual exercises’ in South-Asian gnostic yogas. It reflects on the practice in general as a universal habit significant to the study of human and natural sciences, with focus on literature, philosophy, and psychology. I choose to examine the notion of ‘list’ since it pervades South-Asian gnostic literature, and for the relative convenience it offers in identifying a basic pattern of thought common among human cultures, beyond the region.

AREAS OF INTEREST, EXPERTISE AND RESEARCH

Area of Interest

Classical Indian Philosophies; South-Asian Religions

Area of Expertise

Philosophy; Religious Studies; Philosophy of Religion; Buddhism; Jainism; Hinduism

Area of Research

Doxography, Spiritual Exercises; South-Asian Gnosticism; Renunciation; Yoga of Reasoning; Taxonomy; List-Making; Ancient Indian Scholasticism

Professional Affiliations & Contributions

  • EDITOR for the Journal of Global Buddhism
  • ASSOCIATE MEMBER of the Koselleck-Project - Histories of Philosophy in a Global Perspectiv, Hildesheim University, Germany
  • ASSOCIATE MEMBER Centre d'études et de rechercher sur l'Inde, l'Asie du Sud et sa diaspora (CERIAS) - Univertié du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Canada
  • MEMBER, SANGH - South Asia Network Ghent University, Belgium

Dialogue and Doxography in Indian Philosophy: Points of View in Buddhist, Jaina, and Advaita Vedānta Traditions

2020 Karl-StéphanBouthillette

Monograph

Acknowledging the Philosophical and Spiritual Value of Doxography as a Literary Genre

2021 Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette

Journal Paper

Hermeneutic Praxis: The Yoga of Reason(ing)

2017 Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette

Journal Paper

Battle for Middle Way, Bhāviveka's Dialectical Strategy in Context

2017 Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette

Journal Paper

Taking the Enemy as Medicine: Dialectic and Therapy in the Work of Two Early Indian Doxographers

2015 Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette

Journal Paper

S’initier soi-même : le cas de Lobsang Rampa

2014 Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette

Electronic Journal

The Dialogical and Therapeutic Paradigms in Indian Philosophy

2023 Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette

Book Chapter

Bhāviveka. Madhyamaka Dialectic, Doxography, and Soteriology

2023 Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette

Book Chapter

Reconsidering the Sarva-Siddhānta-Saṅgraha: Authorship, Doxography and Pedagogy

2019 Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette

Book Chapter

Review of: Matthew David Litwa, ‘Posthuman Transformation in Ancient Mediterranean Thought. Becoming Angels and Demons’

2022 Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette

Book Review

Review of: Dustin J. Byrd, ‘The critique of religion and religion’s critique: on dialectical religiology’

2021 Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette

Book Review

Review of: Jose Ignacio Cabezon. ‘Sexuality in Classical South Asian Buddhism’

2021 Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette

Book Review

Review of: Douglas S. Duckworth, ‘The Profound Reality of Interdependence: An Overview of the Wisdom Chapter of the Way of the Bodhisattva’

2021 Karl-StéphanBouthillette

Book Review

Review of: Jessica Frazier, ‘Hindu Worldviews, Theories of Self, Ritual and Reality’

2019 Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette

Book Review

Le yoga de la raison, Initiation à la pensée de l'Inde

2017 Karl-Stéphan Bouthillette

Non-Academic Monograph

Relire T. Lobsang Rampa, Analyse D'un Mythe Moderne

2016

MA Thesis in Monograph Format

Introduction to Indian Philosophy

Indian Buddhism

Indian Metaphysics

Indian Logic and Epistemology

Summer Seminar on the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali

Notions of Self in Indian Philosophy

L'hindouisme

Non-western Philosophy