Ethan Mills, "Three Pillars of Skepticism in Classical India: Nagarjuna, Jayarasi, and Sri Harsa" (Lexington Books, 2018)
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How did Ethan Mills first become interested in philosophy and Indian thought?
Hello and welcome to New Books in Philosophy, a podcast with the New Books Network. I'm Alexis McLeod, Associate Professor of Philosophy in Asian and Asian American Studies at the University of Connecticut. Today I'm speaking with Ethan Mills, assistant professor of philosophy at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. About his excellent new book on skepticism in the classical Indian philosophical tradition. Titled Three Pillars of Skepticism in Classical India, Nagarjana, Jayrasi and Sri Harsha. Professor Mills specializes in Indian philosophy, Greek and Roman philosophy, and world philosophy. Okay. Um well thank you, uh Ethan Mills for uh joining us today to talk about your uh really cool book on on skepticism.
Um I wanted to begin with just kind of asking you how uh how you got into philosophy in general, um how you came to history of philosophy and Indian philosophy, and the topic of this uh this book in particular.
Great. Well uh thank you uh for the question and for inviting me. Um So I think I began in my interest in philosophy began when I was uh in high school. But like most American high school students, I didn't have a chance to learn much formally about philosophy. So Uh I read a little bit on my own. I actually read about Buddhism also, so that interest was there kind of early on. Uh and then I got to college and Uh of course, you know, most of the department was Western focused. And I I learned a great deal. I I really enjoyed Uh, my classes on ancient Greek and early modern European philosophy in particular. And so I think I got into history of philosophy that way because. Um, that was the majority of my undergrad philosophical education was focused on the history of philosophy.
And that's kind of what I was drawn toward. So, you know, for example, reading Hume for me, for example, isn't just, well, here's what this Scottish guy said in the eighteenth century, but it's more, you know, I was thinking along with him and really getting into it and trying to And it was affecting me in a deep way. And so I also then branched out to Uh Indian philosophy through my interest in Buddhism. And I discovered you learn about the history of Buddhism and you say, Well, actually philosophically There was a lot going on in ancient India and the Buddhists were constantly uh in dialogue with each other and with some of the non Buddhist schools. And so I got into that. I did a study abroad program in India when I was an undergrad through Antioch College.
which I think is now run by Carlton. Um But uh that got me into it and then I took some classes, then I got to graduate school and decided to Focus on Indian philosophy. Um and so, you know, I think that fit well with my interests in history of philosophy and so I guess uh And as I got into that and realized that There's this all this great philosophy in the Indian tradition that it kind of makes me sad that uh so many western philosophers, so many American, British, you know, European philosophers don't know anything about it or very little. And it it just seems like a shame, so kind of uh one thing I'm trying to do is to make this Uh accessible and interesting to a broader philosophical audience.
Yeah, that's uh it I I noticed you mentioned Hume. Was that kind of the background of the skepticism bit or the Yeah, right. So
skepticism in particular, um, yeah, so I didn't get to that yet, did I? Uh so I think as I mentioned in the preface of the book, uh I was you know, when I was a kid, maybe ten or twelve, I sort of had this thought, well What if nobody really knows what they're talking about? You know, what if you know, what if we don't really know that much? And that kind of carried over, um, and then I learned, you know, but Hume is still one of my favorite philosophers to read. Um But then I got into the Indian tradition and discovered there were some pretty skeptical types in there too. And so I got into it that way and then I think uh as I narrate this in the book Uh, in early on in my PhD program in New Mexico. I sort of had this idea.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Ethan Mills first become interested in philosophy and Indian thought?
0:07–8:50
2
What is the central argument of Ethan Mills’ book about the three skeptical pillars in classical India?
8:50–17:35
3
How does Nagarjuna’s two‑phase approach combine emptiness with quietist practice?
17:35–27:32
4
Why is Jayarashi considered a Charvaka skeptic and what is his attitude toward everyday life?
27:32–35:08
5
What mystical and skeptical elements does Sri Harsha bring to Advaita Vedanta?
35:08–42:57
6
How does the book challenge the traditional Darshana (school) model of Indian philosophy?
42:57–50:52
7
What lessons do the three thinkers offer for contemporary philosophical skepticism?
50:52–58:10
8
What current projects is Ethan Mills working on that extend the themes of his book?
58:10–1:05:20
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