Marzenna Jakubczak
My research interests include classical Indian Philosophy and early Buddhist Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind, Comparative Studies in Philosophy and Religion, Philosophy of Culture, Cross-cultural Aesthetics and selected issues in Gender Studies. I have published mainly in the areas of Samkhya and Yoga philosophy, Indian and Japanese aesthetics, the aesthetics of four elements (esp. earth), contemplative traditions of India, and ecofeminism. I've been a visiting researcher and visiting professor at several universities in Europe and Asia, including the University of Oxford, the University of London (SOAS), Visva-Bharati University, University of Calcutta, University of Crete, Dalarna University in Falun, Charles University in Prague. I'm the founder and the first editor-in-chief of ARGUMENT: Biannual Philosophical Journal.
Phone: Office: +48126645818
Address: Institute of Culture
Faculty of Management and Social Communication
Jagiellonian University
ul. prof. Stanisława Łojasiewicza 4, 30-348 Kraków, Poland
Phone: Office: +48126645818
Address: Institute of Culture
Faculty of Management and Social Communication
Jagiellonian University
ul. prof. Stanisława Łojasiewicza 4, 30-348 Kraków, Poland
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Papers & chapters by Marzenna Jakubczak
This book presents a new translation of Īśvarakṛṣṇa's Sāṃkhya Kārikā, with grammatical analysis. It includes interpretive essays that explore the philosophical aspects of the Sāṃkhya system by Geoffrey Ashton, Ana Funes Maderey, Mikel Burley, Christopher Key Chapple, and Srivatsa Ramaswami, as well as its sociological and psychological applications as delineated by Marzenna Jakubczak, McKim Marriott, and Alfred Collins.
Although some of the writings of Swāmi Hariharānanda Ᾱraṇya (1869-1947), such as Yoga Philosophy of Patañjali, are well known and have been discussed among scholars specializing in Indian philosophy, he is not commonly recognized as a great modern yoga teacher and as the founder of a living tradition, unlike some other Bengali figures of his time such as Swāmi Vivekānanda (1863-1902) or Śri Aurobindo (1972-1950). Apparently, the fact that he established Kāpil Maṭh, an āśrama dedicated to the legendary sage Kāpila, whose members wish to cultivate the strict ancient model of renunciation (saṃnyāsa), did not give him due fame. According to Hariharānanda Ᾱraṇya it was Kāpila, dated to the 7th century BCE, who was the first to attain liberating knowledge (mokṣa) and establish the worldview of both Sāṃkhya and Yoga. Therefore, both philosophical schools are perceived by Hariharānanda as being embedded in one integrated tradition and their followers are labelled as Sāṃkhyayogins (Jacobsen, 2018: 2-41) .
In this chapter I am going to present Hariharānanda Ᾱraṇya as a unique spiritual seeker who managed to re-establish Sāṃkhyayoga as a living tradition, thus, initiating a new phase of its development, which may be called ‘neo-classical.’ I aim to consider what it actually means to re-establish a philosophical school that was regarded as extinct for centuries. In the first section of my paper, I will briefly summarise the characteristics of Hariharānanda. This will be followed by the answer to a major question: What makes Kāpil Maṭh really ‘Sāṃkhyan’? In the subsequent sections, I will present some comparative ideas and Buddhist inspirations of Hariharānanda Ᾱraṇya, and discuss the hybrid identity of the reinterpreted Sāṃkhyayoga theory and practice cultivated by the founder of Kāpil Maṭh and his followers.
The paper discusses the issue of psychophysical agency in the context of Indian philosophy, focusing on the oldest preserved texts of the classical tradition of Sāṃkhya-Yoga. the author raises three major questions: What is action in terms of Sāṃkhyakārikā (ca. fifth century CE) and Yogasūtra (ca. third century CE)? Whose action is it, or what makes one an agent? What is a right and morally good action? the first part of the paper reconsiders a general idea of action — including actions that are deliberately done and those that 'merely' happen — identified by Patañjali and Ῑśvarakṛṣṇa as a permanent change or transformation (pariṇāma) determined by the universal principle of causation (satkārya). then, a threefold categorization of actions according to their causes is presented, i.e. internal agency (ādhyātmika), external agency (ādhi bhautika) and 'divine' agency (ādhidaivika). the second part of the paper undertakes the prob lem of the agent's autonomy and the doer' s psychophysical integrity. the main issues that are exposed in this context include the relationship between an agent and the agent's capacity for perception and cognition, as well as the crucial Sāṃkhya-Yoga distinction between 'a doer' and 'the self '. the agent's self-awareness and his or her moral self-esteem are also briefly examined. moreover, the efficiency of action in present and future is discussed (i.e. karman, karmāśaya, saṃskāra, vāsanā), along with the criteria of a right act accomplished through meditative in sight (samādhi) and moral discipline (yama).
Keywords: Indian philosophy; non-theism; atheism; religious practice; meditation; īśvara; svābhāvika; Sāṃkhya; Yoga; God in Yoga
ABSTRACT: Th e author of this paper discusses the source experience defined in terms of the ancient Indian philosophy. She focuses on two out of six mainstream Hindu philosophical schools, Sāṃkhya and Yoga. While doing so the author refers to the oldest preserved texts
of this classical tradition, namely Yogasūtra c. 3rd CE and Sāṃkhyakārikā 5th CE, together with their most authoritative commentaries. First, three major connotations of darśana, the Sanskrit equivalent of φιλοσοφια, are introduced and contextualised appropriately for the comparative study of source experience. Th en, three means of knowledge (pramāṇa-s) as well as the purpose of search for source experience are explained. Next, a specific understanding
of source experience in the context of Sāṃkhya-Yoga is discussed to reveal both its contents and the reasons for apophatic formulation of the liberating insight. The self-knowledge and true knowledge both result from source experience based on distinguished discernment
(vivekakhyāti) between “I”/ego and the self, gained during the multistage meditative absorption (samādhi). The analysis of discriminative cognition is followed by reconstruction of the arguments offered by the author of Sāṃkhyakārikā in favour of the existence of the self
(puruṣa), immutable, inactive, and opposed to the domain of nature (prakṛti) characterised as spontaneously active and creative, which includes empirical consciousness, or “I”. The last section is devoted to the issue of the possible communication of achieved knowledge
and its application in the everyday life practice. In conclusion, it is claimed that in Indian philosophy there has been no clear distinction between the practical value of subjective cognitive insight and theoretical ambitions of philosophy, which is why many authors of
classical treatises are also recognised as eminent sapiential mentors. Oft en, especially in the
texts of Yoga, Nyāyā and Buddhism philosophy is associated with therapy and philosophical
exposition of the “cognitive ailments” is compared to medical treatment.
KEYWORDS: Indian philosophy • Sāṃkhya • Yoga • darśana • cognitive insight • source experience • communicating knowledge
most recent definitions of “comparative philosophy”. Th e author aims at reconsidering in terms of philosophy both the reasons for bias against this method and its advantages in
the context of cross-cultural comparative studies. Th e crucial question is whether various incommensurate schemata of thought, including these which are determined by distinct
cultural milieus, may be the subject of comparison at all. To answer this question, she refers, among others, to Ludwik Fleck’s conception of a socially constructed “thought style” and
“the truth”, being completely determined within a thought style. Th e author also consults the conceptions of Stanisław Schayer, Daya Krishna, Bimal K. Matilal and Jitendra Nath
Mohanty who recommend the comparative method as highly useful for the on-going philosophical debates as long as it is not confined to tracing merely similarities between different
intellectual traditions, i.e. analogical ideas and equivalent arguments. What seems to the present author the most valuable philosophical contribution to the comparative studies is the perspective of polilogue suggested by Franz M. Wimmer, and the metacomparative selfreference recognized by Wilhelm Halbfass and Robert W. Smid as precious enhancement
and challenge for profound philosophical inquiry as such.
This book presents a new translation of Īśvarakṛṣṇa's Sāṃkhya Kārikā, with grammatical analysis. It includes interpretive essays that explore the philosophical aspects of the Sāṃkhya system by Geoffrey Ashton, Ana Funes Maderey, Mikel Burley, Christopher Key Chapple, and Srivatsa Ramaswami, as well as its sociological and psychological applications as delineated by Marzenna Jakubczak, McKim Marriott, and Alfred Collins.
Although some of the writings of Swāmi Hariharānanda Ᾱraṇya (1869-1947), such as Yoga Philosophy of Patañjali, are well known and have been discussed among scholars specializing in Indian philosophy, he is not commonly recognized as a great modern yoga teacher and as the founder of a living tradition, unlike some other Bengali figures of his time such as Swāmi Vivekānanda (1863-1902) or Śri Aurobindo (1972-1950). Apparently, the fact that he established Kāpil Maṭh, an āśrama dedicated to the legendary sage Kāpila, whose members wish to cultivate the strict ancient model of renunciation (saṃnyāsa), did not give him due fame. According to Hariharānanda Ᾱraṇya it was Kāpila, dated to the 7th century BCE, who was the first to attain liberating knowledge (mokṣa) and establish the worldview of both Sāṃkhya and Yoga. Therefore, both philosophical schools are perceived by Hariharānanda as being embedded in one integrated tradition and their followers are labelled as Sāṃkhyayogins (Jacobsen, 2018: 2-41) .
In this chapter I am going to present Hariharānanda Ᾱraṇya as a unique spiritual seeker who managed to re-establish Sāṃkhyayoga as a living tradition, thus, initiating a new phase of its development, which may be called ‘neo-classical.’ I aim to consider what it actually means to re-establish a philosophical school that was regarded as extinct for centuries. In the first section of my paper, I will briefly summarise the characteristics of Hariharānanda. This will be followed by the answer to a major question: What makes Kāpil Maṭh really ‘Sāṃkhyan’? In the subsequent sections, I will present some comparative ideas and Buddhist inspirations of Hariharānanda Ᾱraṇya, and discuss the hybrid identity of the reinterpreted Sāṃkhyayoga theory and practice cultivated by the founder of Kāpil Maṭh and his followers.
The paper discusses the issue of psychophysical agency in the context of Indian philosophy, focusing on the oldest preserved texts of the classical tradition of Sāṃkhya-Yoga. the author raises three major questions: What is action in terms of Sāṃkhyakārikā (ca. fifth century CE) and Yogasūtra (ca. third century CE)? Whose action is it, or what makes one an agent? What is a right and morally good action? the first part of the paper reconsiders a general idea of action — including actions that are deliberately done and those that 'merely' happen — identified by Patañjali and Ῑśvarakṛṣṇa as a permanent change or transformation (pariṇāma) determined by the universal principle of causation (satkārya). then, a threefold categorization of actions according to their causes is presented, i.e. internal agency (ādhyātmika), external agency (ādhi bhautika) and 'divine' agency (ādhidaivika). the second part of the paper undertakes the prob lem of the agent's autonomy and the doer' s psychophysical integrity. the main issues that are exposed in this context include the relationship between an agent and the agent's capacity for perception and cognition, as well as the crucial Sāṃkhya-Yoga distinction between 'a doer' and 'the self '. the agent's self-awareness and his or her moral self-esteem are also briefly examined. moreover, the efficiency of action in present and future is discussed (i.e. karman, karmāśaya, saṃskāra, vāsanā), along with the criteria of a right act accomplished through meditative in sight (samādhi) and moral discipline (yama).
Keywords: Indian philosophy; non-theism; atheism; religious practice; meditation; īśvara; svābhāvika; Sāṃkhya; Yoga; God in Yoga
ABSTRACT: Th e author of this paper discusses the source experience defined in terms of the ancient Indian philosophy. She focuses on two out of six mainstream Hindu philosophical schools, Sāṃkhya and Yoga. While doing so the author refers to the oldest preserved texts
of this classical tradition, namely Yogasūtra c. 3rd CE and Sāṃkhyakārikā 5th CE, together with their most authoritative commentaries. First, three major connotations of darśana, the Sanskrit equivalent of φιλοσοφια, are introduced and contextualised appropriately for the comparative study of source experience. Th en, three means of knowledge (pramāṇa-s) as well as the purpose of search for source experience are explained. Next, a specific understanding
of source experience in the context of Sāṃkhya-Yoga is discussed to reveal both its contents and the reasons for apophatic formulation of the liberating insight. The self-knowledge and true knowledge both result from source experience based on distinguished discernment
(vivekakhyāti) between “I”/ego and the self, gained during the multistage meditative absorption (samādhi). The analysis of discriminative cognition is followed by reconstruction of the arguments offered by the author of Sāṃkhyakārikā in favour of the existence of the self
(puruṣa), immutable, inactive, and opposed to the domain of nature (prakṛti) characterised as spontaneously active and creative, which includes empirical consciousness, or “I”. The last section is devoted to the issue of the possible communication of achieved knowledge
and its application in the everyday life practice. In conclusion, it is claimed that in Indian philosophy there has been no clear distinction between the practical value of subjective cognitive insight and theoretical ambitions of philosophy, which is why many authors of
classical treatises are also recognised as eminent sapiential mentors. Oft en, especially in the
texts of Yoga, Nyāyā and Buddhism philosophy is associated with therapy and philosophical
exposition of the “cognitive ailments” is compared to medical treatment.
KEYWORDS: Indian philosophy • Sāṃkhya • Yoga • darśana • cognitive insight • source experience • communicating knowledge
most recent definitions of “comparative philosophy”. Th e author aims at reconsidering in terms of philosophy both the reasons for bias against this method and its advantages in
the context of cross-cultural comparative studies. Th e crucial question is whether various incommensurate schemata of thought, including these which are determined by distinct
cultural milieus, may be the subject of comparison at all. To answer this question, she refers, among others, to Ludwik Fleck’s conception of a socially constructed “thought style” and
“the truth”, being completely determined within a thought style. Th e author also consults the conceptions of Stanisław Schayer, Daya Krishna, Bimal K. Matilal and Jitendra Nath
Mohanty who recommend the comparative method as highly useful for the on-going philosophical debates as long as it is not confined to tracing merely similarities between different
intellectual traditions, i.e. analogical ideas and equivalent arguments. What seems to the present author the most valuable philosophical contribution to the comparative studies is the perspective of polilogue suggested by Franz M. Wimmer, and the metacomparative selfreference recognized by Wilhelm Halbfass and Robert W. Smid as precious enhancement
and challenge for profound philosophical inquiry as such.
gave an impulse to organize the two-day international seminar on “Comparative Methodology in Religious Studies” held in Kraków on 23–24 May 2013, at the Pedagogical University of Cracow, Department of Philosophy and Sociology, in co-operation with the Editors of Argument: Biannual Philosophical Journal. During the seminar a variety of methods applied in the comparative study of religion were discussed. The participants considered which of them seemed to be most beneficial or useful for a better understanding of the subject matter, and for capturing the uniqueness and divergence between Abrahamic, Indian
(Dharmic), and other religious traditions. Some criteria for a proper comparison in the field of religion were defined and justified during this discussion. The presenters took into account both the sociological context of the analysis and
philosophical consideration of the most fundamental questions within comparative methodology. Some of the papers discussed during the seminar together with a few other ones submitted to the journal constitute a major part of this volume addressing the leading theme Comparative study of religion: methods and applications. (…) more at http://www.argument-journal.eu/current-issue?lang=en
Introduction:
Philosophy and Literature: Generation and Transformation in Gender and Postdependency Discourse (website: http://www.argument-journal.eu/back-issues/vol-2-no-1?lang=en)
Summary: The paper aims at explaining terminology used in the contemporary Polish language to name the inhabitants of India. Some of the terms are ambiguous; others may be incorrect, while some are not
even included in common Polish dictionaries. At first glance, when considering the question of what it is like to be a human in different epochs and cultures, such a terminological confusion seems irrelevant, or,
at least, of secondary importance. The author of the text, however, argues that thanks to revisiting the nomenclature used for the inhabitants of India, we can not only learn more about people belonging to a linguistic,
cultural or religious community other than our own, but we can also trace the historical conditions of the reception of Indian culture in Poland, as well as realize our own bias and cognitive determinants.
Key words: Indian culture, reception of Hinduism, dharma, Hindutva
Ars Erotica: Sex and Somaesthetics in the Classical Arts of Love
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021), 436 pages.
--
Lecture and seminar on Philosophy of Mind (in Polish); spring semester 2017/18, for BA level Philosophy students (45 teaching hrs.), at Pedagogical University of Cracow, Deapartment of Philosophy and Sociology, Poland
Lista lektur obowiązkowych:
(1) Fragmenty najstarszych tekstów buddyjskich - kazania Buddy (fragmenty Nikaji).
(2) Dhammapada - mowy Buddy (fragmenty Nikaji)
(3) Orędzia króla Aśoki (fragmenty)
(4) Żywot Buddy (oprac. Artur Karp, Encyklopedia PWN)
a także:
(5) odnośnik do filmu dokumentalnego nt. Buddy (The Buddha, ok. 2 h) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHYk9YUqlqE
bodily and mental integrity of human being
sensual vs. intellectual perception
bodily awareness, bodily agency, body & self-control
embodiment as autonomy vs. determination (embodied mind, embodied spirituality, embodied passion, etc.)
feeling and felt body, body as a source of pain or pleasure
other person’s body and bodily intimacy
disable or dislocated body, bodily sickness & healing
bodily limits, body schema, transgressing body borders (social, moral and epistemic uncertainties & dilemmas)
body as a challenge for bioethics, body modifications, the sense of ownership of one’s own body
normative vs. non-conventional perspectives on body
body image, imagined beauty or ugliness of body, male & female bodies, bodily attractiveness (depicted in literature & art, or practised in sport, fashion, etc.)
The conference theme, Power and Creativity, is designed to invite a broad range of scholarly discussions related to Asian and Non-Western traditions, as well as cross-cultural philosophical analysis. The SACP board especially welcomes proposals addressing power and creativity. Those who wish to participate are encouraged to submit abstracts and presentations on topics that correspond to their special areas of interest so long as they engage in some way with Asian and/or Comparative philosophies.. Abstracts for presentations should be between 200-300 words, and include a filename that begins with the presenter's last name and closes with the name of our organization and the year of the conference, e.g., 'Berger-SACP 2018'. The presenter's name, institutional affiliation, and email address must also be stated in the text of the abstract itself. Panel proposals should include the title and a brief description of the panel, as well as the names, affiliations, and email addresses of the participants. Please also provide the titles of each participant's presentation. The deadline for submission is January 31, 2018. Notice of acceptance of proposals will be sent to your e-mail address by the beginning of March, with instructions for how to register and submit the US$160 conference registration fee. For further details, see the conference website: https://sites.google.com/site/50thsacpconferencekrakow2018/ To encourage student participation, the SACP has once again set up Graduate Student Essay Contest Awards for this conference. Student Essay Contest Prizes are: US$1,000 for First prize, US$750 for Second prize, and US$500 for Third prize. The awards are given in order to assist with the travel and accommodation expenses for those winners who attend and present their work at the 2018 SACP conference only. Graduate students who wish their papers to be considered for these prizes must submit a complete essay of no more than 10 pages (or 4,000 words) and a 300 word abstract to the above email address ([email protected]).
Academic Study of Religion in Asia is conceived as a special volume of the Argument: Biannual Philosophical Journal (2015, vol. 5, no. 1) to commemorate Professor Joseph T. O'Connell. More details: www.argument-journal.eu/