3-6 January 2007, International Conference on Logic, Navya Nyaya and applications: a homage to Bimal Krishna Matilal, Calcutta, West Bengal, India

Navya-Nyaya is an offshoot of the Nyaya system which was originally intended to be a comprehensive philosophy having an ontology of its own. The logical apparatus and the analysis of language developed by the Nyaya system were originally devised to lend support to this ontology. But the Nyaya techniques of drawing conclusions from given premises and the Nyaya way of analyzing language were borrowed by the other systems of Indian philosophy. This suggests that the Nyaya system has a formal core which is relatively, if not absolutely, independent of its ontological commitments and can be applied to entirely different contexts.

This conference is homage to Bimal Krishna Matilal who was one of the few thinkers who devoted major part of his philosophical career to initiating meaningful dialogues between the philosophical traditions of the East and the West. The main objective of his studying an ancient Indian system such as Navya-Nyaya was to explain its significance and relevance to modern discussions in the area called "philosophical logic". Issues in philosophical logic like those of ontological commitments, existence and truth are also addressed by Navya-Nyaya. This opens up the possibility of an interface between the approaches and conclusions of the different traditions.

For more information, see http://philosophy-ju.org/news&announce/ or contact Prof Dr Mihir Chakraborty at mihirc99 at vsnl.com.