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Mohanty

Jitendra Nath Mohanty was an Indian philosopher, educated in Calcutta and at Göttingen, who taught in India and then for many years in the…

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Also known as J. N. Mohanty, Jitendra Nath Mohanty

1928 – 2023 · Cuttack, Calcutta, Göttingen, Oklahoma, New York, Philadelphia

Traditions: Indian

Schools: Phenomenology

Jitendra Nath Mohanty was an Indian philosopher, educated in Calcutta and at Göttingen, who taught in India and then for many years in the United States, including at the New School and Temple University. A leading interpreter of Husserl's phenomenology, he also wrote on Nyāya epistemology and the theory of truth, and argued that classical Indian thought is fully rational and philosophical, bridging Indian and Western traditions.

Key ideas

  • Husserl's phenomenology offers a rigorous theory of meaning and intentionality.
  • Classical Indian philosophy is not merely spiritual: it contains rigorous theories of knowledge, truth and meaning.
  • Gaṅgeśa's Navya-Nyāya account of truth and its certification can be fruitfully compared with Western theories.
  • Reason and tradition in Indian thought are not opposed: argument developed within and through traditions.

Major works

  • Edmund Husserl's Theory of Meaning (1964)
  • Gaṅgeśa's Theory of Truth (1966)
  • Reason and Tradition in Indian Thought (1992)

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