Mikel Burley is a scholar of religion and philosophy, known for his work on the Hindu and Buddhist traditions.

Biography

Burley gained his B.A. in 1993 from the

University of Essex The University of Essex is a public university, public research university in Essex, England. Established by royal charter in 1965, Essex is one of the original plate glass university, plate glass universities. Essex's shield consists of the an ...

, his M.A. from the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

in 1997, and Ph.D.s from the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

in 2005 and the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

in 2009. He researches South Asian religions, in particular

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

and

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...

, and their philosophies. Als
CV on Academia

Works

Burley has written over 50 peer-reviewed journal articles. He has written and edited several books, of which the most often cited is ''Classical Samkhya and Yoga'' (

Samkhya ''Samkhya'' or ''Sankya'' (; Sanskrit सांख्य), IAST: ') is a Dualism (Indian philosophy), dualistic Āstika and nāstika, school of Indian philosophy. It views reality as composed of two independent principles, ''purusha, puruṣa' ...

being the dualistic Indian philosophy behind

Patanjali Patanjali ( sa, पतञ्जलि, Patañjali), also called Gonardiya or Gonikaputra, was a Hindu author, mystic and philosopher. Very little is known about him, and while no one knows exactly when he lived; from analysis of his works it i ...

's ''

Yoga Sutras The ''Yoga Sutras of Patañjali'' is a collection of Sanskrit sutras (aphorisms) on the theory and practice of yoga – 195 sutras (according to Vyāsa and Krishnamacharya) and 196 sutras (according to others, including BKS Iyengar). The '' ...

''), which has been cited over 130 times, followed by his book on

Hatha yoga Haṭha yoga is a branch of yoga which uses physical techniques to try to preserve and channel the vital force or energy. The Sanskrit word हठ ''haṭha'' literally means "force", alluding to a system of physical techniques. Some haṭha ...

which has been cited over 60 times. ; As author * 2000: ''Hatha-Yoga: Its Context, Theory and Practice'' (Delhi:

Motilal Banarsidass Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House (MLBD) is an Indian academic publishing house, founded in Delhi, India in 1903. It publishes and distributes serials, monographs, and scholarly publications on Asian religions, Buddhology, Indology, Easte ...

). German edition 2005, Romanian edition 2015. * 2007: ''Classical Samkhya and Yoga: An Indian Metaphysics of Experience'' (London:

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

). * 2012: ''Contemplating Religious Forms of Life: Wittgenstein and D. Z. Phillips'' (New York:

Continuum Continuum may refer to: * Continuum (measurement), theories or models that explain gradual transitions from one condition to another without abrupt changes Mathematics * Continuum (set theory), the real line or the corresponding cardinal number ...

). * 2016: ''Rebirth and the Stream of Life: A Philosophical Study of Reincarnation, Karma and Ethics'' (New York:

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

). * 2020: ''A Radical Pluralist Philosophy of Religion: Cross-Cultural, Multireligious, Interdisciplinary'' (London:

). ; As editor * 2012: ''Language, Ethics and Animal Life: Wittgenstein and Beyond'', co-edited with Niklas Forsberg and Nora Hamalainen (London: Bloomsbury). * 2018: ''Wittgenstein, Religion and Ethics: New Perspectives from Philosophy and Theology'' (London: Bloomsbury).

Reception

Finlay Malcolm, reviewing ''A Radical Pluralist Philosophy of Religion'', states that the book "unifies and extends" Burley's "valuable work on diversification in philosophy of religion". Malcolm welcomes Burley's work to diversify "the questions, methods, and phenomena under investigation" in the field. All the same, Malcolm writes, the philosophy of religion is culturally located, and there was good reason for it to start by focussing on Abrahamic religions, before rightly diversifying. Lloyd Strickland, reviewing ''Rebirth and the Stream of Life'', writes that Burley "succeeds admirably" in analysing and elucidating the subject of rebirth, giving an overview of rebirth theories and showing how they "might be intelligible" despite philosophers' objections on grounds of individual identity and memory. Simon Hewitt, welcoming Burley's edited collection ''Wittgenstein, Religion and Ethics'', notes that

Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrians, Austrian-British people, British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy o ...

, while "a towering figure" in the domain, has been a ''

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of the ...

'', possibly because of his "meditative" and seemingly obscure style, while post-Quinean metaphysics in the United States has been opposed to him.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burley, Mikel Living people Yoga scholars Alumni of the University of Leeds Alumni of the University of Essex Alumni of the University of Nottingham Alumni of the University of Bristol British scholars of Buddhism 21st-century British philosophers British Indologists Year of birth missing (living people)