Beyond the Phylogenetic Analysis of Manuscripts’ Transmission:A Philological Study on the Dispute over the Auditory Perception in Classical India

Shida Taisei (Assistant Professor,The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research, Kyoto University; HYI Visiting Scholar)
Chair and Discussant: Parimal Patil (Professor of Religion and Indian Philosophy, Department of South Asian Studies, Harvard University)

One of the main objectives of Indology is to investigate the transmission of classical texts and, ideally, to reconstruct their original form based on the extant manuscripts as testimonies. However, since the materials are fragile and thus a number of copies have been repeated in the process of textual preservation and circulation, the gap between the extant manuscripts and the original text widens. Thus, we must direct a critical eye towards even the unanimous readings shared amongst all the testimonies. In this talk, Professor Shida will present a philological case study which proposes a minimal emendation of the manuscript reading of a philosophical dispute on the theory of auditory perception. A general introduction to Indology will precede the main subject of the talk.