Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
province, in
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. An
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
n
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
Navya-Nyāya
The Navya-Nyāya or Neo-Logical ''darśana'' (view, system, or school) of Indian logic and Indian philosophy was founded in the 13th century CE by the philosopher Gangeśa Upādhyāya of Mithila and continued by Raghunatha Siromani of Nabadwip ...
, he resided at De Nobili College,
Pune
Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
. Vattanky was a Professor Emeritus of
Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth
Jnana Deepa (JD), Institute for Philosophy and Theology (Pontifical Athenaeum) is located at Pune, India. Established by the Jesuits in Kandy (Sri Lanka) in 1893, it was transferred to Pune (India) in 1955. Catering primarily to the formation o ...
, Pune, India. He has contributed significantly to the growth of
Indian philosophy
Indian philosophy refers to philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. A traditional Hindu classification divides āstika and nāstika schools of philosophy, depending on one of three alternate criteria: whether it believes the Veda ...
and Indian
Christian Theology
Christian theology is the theology of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. Such study concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Christian tradition. Christian theology, theologian ...
.
His book on
Nyaya
(Sanskrit: न्याय, ''nyā-yá''), literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment",Vattanky, John. 1993. Development of Nyaya theism. New Delhi: Intercultural Publications. has been well appreciated and acclaimed. His work on Gangesa, was favourably commented on by Kanchi Sankaracharya.See also Vattanky, John, Bhattacarya Visvanatha Nyayapañcanana, and Dinakarabhatta. 1995. Translation and interpretation of Karikavali, Muktavali, and Dinakari. 1st ed, Sri Garib Das Oriental series no. 187. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications.
His Life and Work
Professor John Vattanky was born at Palakkattumala,
Kottayam
Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-we ...
in
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
on 3 July 1931. After his high school studies (in which he stood first in the school) and after preliminary studies in the classics at the
Papal Seminary
Papal Seminary, Pune, India, is a Catholic educational institute whose primary function is training priests. Currently, it caters to the formation of about 180 Seminarians from most of the dioceses of India. It trains students from all three ri ...
,
Kandy
Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...
, Sri Lanka, he entered the
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
in 1950. During the course of his studies in the Society of Jesus, he gained a licentiate in Philosophy (1957) and another licentiate in Theology (1964). He was ordained priest in 1963. Then in 1966, he began his specialization in Oriental Philosophies and Religion, at the University of Oxford, England from where he took his M.A. in Oriental Studies with his optionals as
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
and
Pali
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
. He went on to University of Vienna to do his doctorate specializing in Indian philosophy. After his Ph.D. (1974), he was in
Trivandrum
Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...
, Kerala, organizing a Research Centre in Indian Philosophy and Religion.
During this time, he has published several scholarly research articles in standard research journals both in India and abroad. His major book, Gangesa's Philosophy of God was published in 1984 by the Adyar Research Library, Madras and has won the admiration of scholars as well as the award of all India Philosophical Association.
Then he moved on to Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth in Pune where he was teaching classical Indian philosophy and Sanskrit. During this time he also developed the Centre for Advanced Indian Studies and continued his researches. He also lectured in various universities in India and abroad. Many times he was visiting professor of Indian philosophy at the Hochschule fuer Philosophie, Munich, Germany.
He has also presented papers at various conferences, national and international. Thus in 1974, he presented a paper at All India Oriental Conference, Kurukshetra; in 1978, gave papers at the University of Kerala and in Sanskrit College, Trippunithara, Kerala; in 1982, he presented a paper at the Faculty of Theology, University of Passau, Germany and at the International Conference on Buddhist studies at Oxford. In 1984, he presented a paper at the International Conference on Comparative Philosophy at Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. In 1985, he presented a paper at All India Philosophical Conference, Hyderabad. In 1986, he presented papers at the University of
Munich
Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, at the Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, to the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Texas, Austin, U.S.A., and to the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Washington, U.S.A. In the same year, he was one of the main speakers at the seminar on the Nyaya System of Indian philosophy at New Delhi. In 1987, he presented a paper to the Faculty of Humanities at Thammasat University, Bangkok. In the same year he was a visiting professor at Santa Clara University, U.S.; he also gave a lecture on 'The Analytical Tradition in Indian Philosophy' to the Faculty of Philosophy of the same university.
In 1993, his book 'Development of Nyaya Theism' was published by the Intercultural Publications, New Delhi. In 1995 his book 'Nyaya Philosophy of Language' was published by the Indian Book Centre, Delhi. In the same year he also organized a national seminar on Indian Philosophy of Language at Pune and presented a paper on 'Indian Hermeneutics'. In 1998 he was a visiting fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge. In the same year he lectured at the Shimla Institute of Advanced Study on 'Nyaya System of Philosophy an Important Aspect of Indian Culture'. Further in the same year he lectured at Santiniketan on "Nyaya Theism and Nyaya Hermeneutics', participated in a seminar at Dunlod, New Delhi and presented a paper on Nyaya. In 1995 he was a visiting Life-member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, England. In the same year he delivered lectures for the refresher course for University teachers in Lucknow. In 2000, he gave a lecture at a seminar on Nyaya Logic at the International Centre, Delhi. In the same year he also gave lectures at the Institute of
Indology
Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the History of India, history and Culture of India, cultures, Languages of South Asia, languages, and Indian literature, literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a ...
and the Faculty of Theology, University of Tübingen, Germany, at the University of
Santiniketan
Santiniketan is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, and later expanded by his son ...
and participated in the conference on the dialogue of civilizations at India International Centre, New Delhi and presented a paper on 'Argumentation in Nyaya'. In 2001, he was a visiting Life Member at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, England. In 2002, he participated in the International conference on Syriac Studies at Kottayam, Kerala.
In 2003, he was a visiting Life Member at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, England; in the same year he also gave a lecture on 'Sankara and Christian Theology' at the Faculty of Theology,
University of Tübingen
The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...
, Germany. Further, in the same year he participated in the International Philosophy Conference at Istanbul, Turkey and presented a paper on "Nyaya and Buddhist Logic'. In 2004, he was a visiting Scholar at Campion Hall, University of Oxford; in the same year he also participated in an International Conference on Theology at Beirut and presented a paper on Sankara and Eastern Theology'. In 2005, he participated in an International Conference on Eastern Theology in Beirut and presented a paper on Sankara and Apophatic Theology'. Further in the same year he presided at the inaugural session of a seminar organized by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, Imphal, Manipur and afterwards presented a paper on 'Word and Meaning'; he was also a visiting Scholar at Campion Hall, University of Oxford. In 2006 he participated in the International Conference at Bialowieza, near Warsaw, Poland and presented a paper on 'Theism, the Culmination of Nyaya Logic'; in the same year he was also a visiting Scholar at Campion Hall, Oxford. In 2007, he participated in an International Conference on Nyaya and Formal Logic at Jadavpur, Kolkata and presented a paper on 'The Integral Humanism of Nyaya'; in the same year he was also a visiting scholar at Campion Hall, University of Oxford. In 2008, he presented a paper on 'Ephrem and Sankara; a Dialogue Between Two Creative Thinkers' at an International conference in Granada, Spain. In 2009, he participated in the National Conference on Logic and its Application at the Mathematical Institute, Chennai. In 2010, he participated in the International Conference on Syriac Theology at SEERI, Kottayam, and presented a paper on 'Understanding Christian Eschatology Against the Background of the Thought of Ephrem and Sankara'.
Professor Vattanky was one of the much sought after resource persons in refresher courses for University lecturers from all parts of India. He has thus lectured for such groups in Lucknow, Pune, Santi Niketan and so on. He was also a visiting scholar at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Simla. He participated in various seminars on Classical Indian Philosophy.
Although the Centre for Advanced Indian Studies formerly directed by him is materially a small institute, it pursues intensively research in one of the most difficult systems of Indian thought- the
Nyaya
(Sanskrit: न्याय, ''nyā-yá''), literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment",Navya-Nyāya
The Navya-Nyāya or Neo-Logical ''darśana'' (view, system, or school) of Indian logic and Indian philosophy was founded in the 13th century CE by the philosopher Gangeśa Upādhyāya of Mithila and continued by Raghunatha Siromani of Nabadwip ...
and these works have won the admiration of scholars working in the field.
Some of His Writings
* A System of Indian Logic: The Nyaya Theory of Inference: Analysis, Text, Translation and Interpretation of the anumana section of Karikavali, Muktavali and Dinakari. Routledge, 2002.
* Gangesa's Philosophy of God. John Vattanky - 1986 - Philosophy East and West 36 (4):429-430.
* Śaśadhara's Īśvaravāda: An Important Source of Gangeśa's Īśvaravāda. EVIEWohn Vattanky - 1979 - Journal of Indian Philosophy 7 (3):257-266.
* An Indian Ending: Rediscovering the Grandeur of Indian Heritage for a Sustainable Future: Essays in Honour of Professor Dr. John Vattanky Sj on Completing Eighty Years.John Vattanky, Kuruvila Pandikattu & Binoy Pichalakkattu (eds.) - 2013 - Serials Publications.
* Aspects of Early Nyāya Theism. John Vattanky - 1978 - Journal of Indian Philosophy 6 (4):393-404.
* Development of Nyāya Theism. John Vattanky - 1993 - Intercultural Publications.
* Is Theism Central to Nyaya? John Vattanky - 2000 - Indian Philosophical Quarterly 27 (4):411-420
* Proof for the Existence of God in Classical Indian Philosophy. John Vattanky - 2007 - Forum Philosophicum: International Journal for Philosophy 12 (1):1 - 15.
* Philosophy of Indian Logic From a Comparative Perspective. John Vattanky - 2007 - The Proceedings of the Twenty-First World Congress of Philosophy 7:179-183.
* Semantic Competency (Yogyatā). John Vattanky - 1995 - Journal of Indian Philosophy 23 (2):151-178.
* Translation and Interpretation of Kārikāvalī, Muktāvalī, and Dinakarī: Nyāya philosophy of language: Analysis, text, translation, and interpretation of Upamāna and Śabda sections of Kārikāvalī, Muktāvalī, and Dinakarī. John Vattanky - 1995 - Sri Satguru Publications.
* The Inference of Gangeśa to Establish the Existence of God. John Vattanky - 1982 - Journal of Indian Philosophy 10 (1):37-50.
* The Referent of Words: Universal or Individual, the Controversies Between Mīmāmsakas and Naiyāyikas. EVIEWohn Vattanky - 1993 - Journal of Indian Philosophy 21 (1):51-78.
His Philosophical Vision
When one has studied the foundational texts of a school of
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
, naturally one's own philosophy would also be much influenced by these works. It was a fortunate set of circumstances that helped him to delve deeply into some of the basic texts of Nyaya. In particular, he analysed each sentence and even each word in the Isvaravada section of Gangesa's Tattvacintāmaṇi. The wider implications of the explanations and argumentations developed in this text began to dawn upon him quietly and consistently. Why is it that according to Nyaya
logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from premises ...
, it is possible to establish the existence of God while in the Buddhist logical system it is not possible to establish the existence of God? An adequate answer to this question lies in the concept of knowledge of the different systems leading to different kinds of understanding of human beings themselves. Thus
Nyaya
(Sanskrit: न्याय, ''nyā-yá''), literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment",
Such an understanding of Nyaya helped him to develop his own philosophy. A human being can be fully understood only if his metaphysical relation with the Absolute is accepted as a constitutive principle of his very being. In other words, an integral humanism calls for transcendence. Such a view naturally rejects a purely empiricist understanding of a human being. This means that the fullness of being human can be achieved only in and through the transcendent. This is because the transcendent remains not only at the theoretical level but at the actual existential plane the center of human beings and hence it invests human life with a unique value and significance not confined merely to the world that is experienced by the senses. However, this world is not denied; it has its value. It is in and through this world that transcendence operates. Therefore, being human is being fully immersed in this world and fully in the transcendent. Hence to present a humanism without placing the transcendent at its center is to impoverish human beings; it will be the greatest injustice to them.
But concretely, what is the nature of this transcendence? In order to grasp this and to develop his original view of it, the
Advaita Vedanta
''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hinduism, Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the Āstika and nāstika, orthodox Hindu school Ved ...
Richard De Smet
Richard De Smet (16 April 1916 – 2 March 1997) was a Belgian Society of Jesus, Jesuit Catholic priest, priest, and Christian missionary, missionary in India. As Indology, Indologist he became a renowned Adi Shankara, Sankara specialist.
Li ...
has been very helpful to him. De Smet rejects the all too common acosmic interpretation of Sankara and asserts that the true nature of the Supreme Brahman as person, ultimate cause, capable of love and grace. Therefore, the highest Brahman is more than a vast ocean of pure consciousness, but in such a way that the simplicity, plenitude and transcendence of the divine are in no way compromised. It is clear that here non-duality (
advaita
''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the orthodox Hindu school Vedānta. The term ''Advaita'' (lit ...
) is read as a doctrine of creation rather than as a teaching of illusionistic
monism
Monism attributes oneness or singleness (Greek: μόνος) to a concept e.g., existence. Various kinds of monism can be distinguished:
* Priority monism states that all existing things go back to a source that is distinct from them; e.g., i ...
. The Supreme Brahman is also a person in a pre-eminent sense. The concept of person in itself does not involve any limitation and hence
Brahman
In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' ( sa, ब्रह्मन्) connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality in the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part X ...
considered even in the strict
Advaita
''Advaita Vedanta'' (; sa, अद्वैत वेदान्त, ) is a Hindu sādhanā, a path of spiritual discipline and experience, and the oldest extant tradition of the orthodox Hindu school Vedānta. The term ''Advaita'' (lit ...
perspective of Sankara's Vedanta is most properly and eminently personal, indeed the Super-person.
This Brahman or God can be described in many ways, but chiefly in the negative, the superlative, the world-relational, the ego-relational and the essential manner. The negative description differentiates God from all other reals by stating that it is not so, it is not so (neti neti). Such description teaches us that no term or concept can express God properly because the expressive power of terms and concepts is restricted to the empirical and hence it denies all idea of finitude in God. Asserting absolute transcendence of God, saving our mind from all temptations of pantheism, this description leads us to
apophatic theology
Apophatic theology, also known as negative theology, is a form of theology, theological thinking and religious practice which attempts to Problem of religious language, approach God, the Divine, by negation, to speak only in terms of what may no ...
. The superlative portrayal of God accounts for the negative description. Because God is Fullness of Being, supreme in every regard He is unlike anything finite. God is the Fullness (purna) of all illimitable perfections; He is the very fullness; He is intensive fullness, not fullness by addition. He is thus the most desirable, the supreme value. He is homogeneous goodness (ekarasa). We have no example of such fullness in our experience. Yet all the beings we know directly have a relation of similarity to God and they can enrich our idea of God. The world-relational definition of God asserts that he is the sole cause of the universe. God provides both the reality and the orderly structure and course of the universe. But this does not imply any change in God; He just gives reality and order from its own fullness. Such a causality of God is so universal and ontologically complete that it is the innermost self of every single entity. The ego-relational description of God operates with reference to the knowing individual self. Each one knows from one's own experience that the ego is agent, enjoyer and knower, but its tadatmya relation with God is not known. The fundamental nature of the self is its relationship with God. And God being the innermost self of man, the former imparts his luster to the individual even to his body and organs especially the intellect. The final description of God is essential. God's essence, is truth, knowledge and being infinite. The two terms reality and knowledge together indicate that in God there is no distinction or composition.
In Sankara the external world is described as
upadhi
Upādhi () is a term in Hindu philosophy meaning "imposition" or "limitation". In Hindu logic, an upādhi is the condition which accompanies the major term and must be supplied to limit the too general middle term. For instance, "the mountain has ...
, translated usually as limiting adjunct. But nobody really explains what it really means. He interprets it with reason as symbol; the world is a symbol of God - this is the thought of the only real poet theologian in the Christian tradition,
St. Ephrem
Ephrem the Syrian ( syc, ܡܪܝ ܐܦܪܝܡ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ, Mār ʾAp̄rêm Sūryāyā, ; grc-koi, Ἐφραὶμ ὁ Σῦρος, Efrém o Sýros; la, Ephraem Syrus; am, ቅዱስ ኤፍሬም ሶርያዊ; ), also known as Saint Ephrem, Saint ...
, a fourth-century saint who lived and worked in
Nisbis
Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...
and then in
Edessa
Edessa (; grc, Ἔδεσσα, Édessa) was an ancient city (''polis'') in Upper Mesopotamia, founded during the Hellenistic period by King Seleucus I Nicator (), founder of the Seleucid Empire. It later became capital of the Kingdom of Osroene ...
. The Supreme reality is communicated to us in the universe which is a vast assembly of symbols singing the goodness of God and this is his philosophy. Infinite are the possibilities of developing this line of thought inspired by the intuitions of Sankara and Ephrem.
A Festschrift, ''Logic and Love: Reflecting on Professor John Vattanky's Contribution to Indian Philosophy and Spirituality,'' was brought in his honour in 2019. An earlier festschrift ''An Indian Ending: Rediscovering the Grandeur of Indian Heritage for a Sustainable Future: Essays in Honour of Professor Dr. John Vattanky Sj on Completing Eighty Years'' was published in 2013.
Final Position
He served as Founder/Director, Centre for Advanced Indian Studies, which was earlier located at De Nobili College, Pune, India. He was active in research and publication in Indian philosophy. Even in his Emeritus status, he had been physically active, intellectually keen and spiritually alert. He wrote numerous articles, attended seminars and was available for guidance. In June 2013, From De Nobili College (Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth), Pune, he moved to Kanjirapally, Kerala. After suffering illnesses for more than six years, he had a stroke on 30 December 2014 and was recuperating at Christ Hall, Kozhikode, Kerala. He breathed his last at 4:30 AM, February 22, 2021.