Free Will Agency and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy

<p>Led by Buddhists and the yoga traditions of Hinduism and Jainism Indian thinkers have long engaged in a rigorous analysis and reconceptualization of our common notion of self. Less understood is the way in which such theories of self intersect with issues involving agency and free will; yet such intersections are profoundly important as all major schools of Indian thought recognize that moral goodness and religious fulfillment depend on the proper understanding of personal agency. Moreover their individual conceptions of agency and freedom are typically nodes by which an entire school's epistemological ethical and metaphysical perspectives come together as a systematic whole. Free Will Agency and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy explores the contours of this issue from the perspectives of the major schools of Indian thought. With new essays by leading specialists in each field this volume provides rigorous analysis of the network of issues surrounding agency and freedom as developed within Indian thought.</p>