Who were the Cārvākas

This is written for those who have at least some general acquaintance with Indian worldviews (religions and philosophies) and not for specialists in Indian/Indic worldviews and philosophy although I would hope they too might find something of worth in this preliminary introduction.

Philosophy East and West, 2016

Scholars have pointed out that the arguments for everything being non-Self (anattā) recurring in the Buddhist texts clearly imply a refutation of the 'Self ' (ātman) in the Upaniṣads. The Buddha's non-acceptance of 'Self ', however, was not only pointed at Brahmanism, but also confronted various samaṇa trends of thought against Brahmanism. This paper investigates the three extant versions of a Buddhist text which records a debate between the Buddha and Saccaka, an adherent of a certain samaṇa sect, over the issue of Self. There exist divergences among the three versions in regard to the account of this debate. The account in sutta 35 of the Majjhima-nikāya (Cūḷasaccaka Sutta) is generally consistent with that in sūtra 110 of the Saṃyukta-āgama in Chinese translation, whereas sūtra 10 of Chapter 37 of the Ekottarika-āgama in Chinese translation tells a different story, which seems to make better sense and could be closer to the original account.

forthcoming in Hybris

isara solutions, 2019

Carvaka philosophy is one of the extreme nastika systems in Indian Philosophy. It does not accept the authorities of Vedas, the existence of transcendental realities like God,soul, and so on. The references of this school are found in the epics and in the early Buddhistic literature. It was mainly aroused as a protest against the excessive monkdon of the Brahaman priest. ‘Carvaka’ is the word that generally stands for ‘materialist’ .But the original meaning of the word is shrounded in mystery. However, according to one view carvaka was originally the name of a sage who propounded materialism. But for another, the word ‘carvaka’ is not a proper name; it is a common name given to a materialist and it signifies a person who believes in ‘eating’, ‘drinking’and be merry,or a person who eats up his own words, or who eats up all moral and ethical consideration, or a peson having a sweet tongue.Infact, whatever the word carvaka signifies , it mainly utters that matter is the only ultimate reality. That is why, Carvaka philosophy is also termed as ‘Materialism’.This carvaka philosophy has obtained more popularity among ordinary people. Whatever the theories or statements are given by this school is accepted by all common people. In this article I just try to focus the points why this school is embranced to all ordinary people .Along with this I also try to bring some criticisms against it collected from different angles.

A.K. Publications, 2023

I try to deconstruct the Carvaka philosophy and presents a a detailed account of its epistemological, metaphysical and ethical underpinnings with the help of secondary sources and texts. Carvaka philosophy rejects the concepts of ishwara, atman, paraloka, and the supremacy of the Vedas and recognises perceptions as the only legitimate form of knowledge, and emphasizes on sensory pleasure over other things. The Carvaka School of Thought in Indian Philosophy has been misunderstood, misconstrued and refuted in unequivocal terms by scholars propounding different philosophical traditions and that the materialistic, hedonistic and worldly theories of Carvaka, rather, hold water and are being unconsciously manifested in the contemporary world.

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research), 2023

I am filled with a deep sense of gratitude to the Department of Philosophy, Loyola College, Chennai; for having inspired me to write this research paper. I am grateful to the almighty God for having given me the opportunity go through this stage of intellectual and philosophical formation. This paper is a result of personal reflection on one of the Nāstika school of Indian Philosophy; i.e. the Cārvāka Philosophy, which I believe is the first philosophy of dissent. I was disturbed to read that the Cārvāka Philosophy was described only in one sentence in our syllabus, 'it was a materialistic philosophy which believed in eat, drink and be merry'. I felt that there was much more to this school of thought and that a prejudice which was being paraded around as the truth. Hence, I began to research on the Cārvāka Philosophy, which took almost two years. I took on this study as a personal research as I found the topic to be fascinating and felt the urge to uncover the truth which was hidden/suppressed. I believe that the saddest part of our Indian education system is that it does not encourage independent thinking, imagination, doubting, questioning methodology but rather a crystallised form of indoctrination of theories and principles as recommended by the Board of Education. I am publishing this paper with a sole aim that students of philosophy and other fields will find my research helpful in their pursuit of knowledge. The Cārvāka philosophical school questioned the existing religious and social structures and beliefs and propagated an attitude of questioning these existing hierarchical structures. Hence, it was silenced and the books and other documents were destroyed by the powers whose authority was questioned. This paper studies the Cārvāka philosophy from a philosophical perspective and not from political or any other perspective.

Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Religion. ‘Self and Not-Self in Indian Philosophy’ in Stewart Goetz and Charles Taliaferro (eds.) Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Religion, Volume 4, pp. 2252-2262. Oxford: Wiley Blackwell., 2021

A comparison between David Hume and the Buddhist concept of personal identity in which both philosophical theories deny the existence of an underlying self. This papers intent is not to prove that eastern philosophy should be viewed through the lens of western philosophy, nor that all of the ideas from eastern philosophies can or should be understood by comparing them to western ideas. Instead, the intent of this paper is to show that a previously overlooked philosophical conclusion drawn from logical premises from Buddhism about the self is actually quite similar to David Hume’s bundle theory of personal identity. This eastern understanding of the self has been overlooked partly because of how radically different it appears compared to western concepts of personal identity and also that it seems self contradictory to other Buddhist teachings. The larger implications of showing this will hopefully bring philosophers to see the value and importance of incorporating eastern philosophical ideas into academic institutions of higher learning.

Philosophy East and West 68 (2): 645-648.