Akshay Gupta is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the College of William and Mary. His research interests include Indian philosophy, Vedānta, and philosophy of religion. He is currently working on a monograph that examines a Hindu response to the problem of evil.
What is your favorite thing that you’ve written?
My dissertation. At present, there is no other piece of writing that I’ve spent as much time thinking about or writing. Working on it has done a lot to further my intellectual development. There’s something about thinking about a topic really hard for a lengthy period of time that challenges your brain and refines your philosophical skills in a unique way.
What topic do you think is under-explored in philosophy?
Non-Western philosophy, including Indian philosophy. This is starting to change, however.
Who is your favorite philosopher and why?
The Indian philosopher Rāmānuja (c. 11-12th century CE). There are several reasons for this. First, he is a very insightful philosopher. A little-known fact about Rāmānuja is that he raised several of David Hume’s critiques of natural theology (which Hume is famous for), hundreds of years before Hume (Rāmānuja is a theist, but he argued against other philosophers who tried to understand God predominantly through reason instead of through scripture). I also find his critique of Śaṅkara’s Advaita Vedānta to be very clever, powerful, and well thought out. At the same time, Rāmānuja develops his own metaphysical views in a systematic and insightful manner. While I don’t subscribe to all of his metaphysical views, there is a lot of overlap between my own views and his. Finally, Rāmānuja also lived a virtuous life as well. He fought against caste discrimination and exhibited saintly behavior.
What time of day are you most productive and creative?
The morning, around 7-10 a.m. I find that I have the most energy at the beginning of the day, and it starts to deplete as the day goes on. So, I try to do the most intellectually demanding and difficult work of the day first and then work on simpler things later in the day.
What are your goals and aspirations outside work?
To become a better person and to make the world a better place. It sounds somewhat generic or cliché but nevertheless I think it’s a noble goal.
Which books have changed your life? In what ways?
The Bhagavad Gītā. Reading it is what sparked my interest in Indian philosophy. I had grown up as a Hindu, and until reading the Gītā, I viewed Hinduism as being superstitious and not particularly insightful. I was quite surprised then, when I read the Gītā and saw that it had a wealth of wisdom on a variety of topics ranging from human psychology to metaphysics. I was also pleasantly surprised when I discovered that there was a wealth of wisdom within Indian philosophy more generally.
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Dr. Sabrina D. MisirHiralall is an editor at the Blog of the APA who currently teaches philosophy, religion, and education courses solely online for Montclair State University, Three Rivers Community College, and St. John’s University.
