Short bio

Marco Ferrante (born 1980) studied Sanskrit and classical Indian philosophy at the Sapienza University of Rome. His scholarly activities are mainly concerned with Brahmanical philosophical texts (in particular, non-dualistic traditions and the work of Bhartṛhari). His focus here is on epistemology, metaphysics, linguistics, and philosophy of mind.

Marco Ferrante first joined the IKGA in 2013 within the framework of the project “Language and action in early Brahmanical philosophy,” headed by Vincent Eltschinger and funded by the FWF (Austrian Science Fund).

From 2015 to 2018 he continued at the Institute doing research as part of a further FWF-funded project, “A Śaiva interpretation for the Buddhist theory of exclusion (apoha)," headed by Marion Rastelli.

Between 2018 and 2020 he was the Berggruen Fellow of Comparative Philosophy at the University of Oxford.

In 2020 he returned to the Institute to do work within the WWTF-funded project “Deontic logic," headed by Agata Ciabattoni and Elisa Freschi.

Currently, Ferrante is the head of the FWF project “Universals in Indian Philosophy of Language” (2021–2024).

 

Selected publications

 

Monograph

  • Indian Perspectives on Consciousness, Language and Self. The School of Recognition on Linguistics and Philosophy of Mind. London: Routledge. 2021.

Articles, book chapters, encyclopedia entries

  • “The Pratyabhijñā on Consciousness and Self-consciousness: a Comparative Perspective”. Accepted for Felicitation Volume. Forthcoming in 2020.
  • “The Place of Language in the Philosophy of the Recognition” in A. Graheli (ed.) The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Philosophy of Language. Bloomsbury: London, 2020, 135-149.
  • “Studies on Bhartṛhari and the Pratyabhijñā: Language, Knowledge and Consciousness”. Journal of Indian Philosophy, 48 (2): 147–159. 2020.
  • “Studies on Bhartṛhari and the Pratyabhijñā: the case of svasaṃvedana”. Proceedings of the Conference of the Society for the Tantric Studies. Religions 2017 8, 145; DOI: 10.3390/rel8080145 ,
  • 2017.
  • “Bhartṛhari and verbal testimony. A hyper-antireductionist approach?” in D. Cuneo–E. Freschi–C. Formigatti (eds.). Not Far Afield: Asian Perspectives on Sexuality, Testimony and Print Culture. A Coffee Break Project. Kervan 21: 227-246, 2017.
  • “On ṛṣis and yogins: Immediate and Mediate Extraordinary Cognitions in Early Brahmanical Thought”. In R. Torella–M. Franceschini–T. Pontillo–C. Pieruccini–A. Rigopoulos–F. Sferra (eds.).
  • Proceedings of the Meeting of the Italian Association of Sanskrit Studies. Rivista degli Studi Orientali. Supplemento 2, vol. LXXXIX, 2016, 41-62.
  • “Vṛṣabhadeva on the status of ordinary phenomena: between Bhartṛhari and Advaita Vedānta”. Journal of Indian Philosophy 43 (1): 61-83, 2015.
  • “How to obtain salvation through Language? Bhartṛhari on Śabdapūrvayoga” in A. Keidan (ed.) The Study of South Asia between Antiquity and Modernity. Parallels and Comparisons. Rivista degli Studi Orientali. Supplemento 2: 161-176. DOI: 10.1400/234729, 2014.
  • “Vṛṣabhadeva’s Sphuṭākṣarā on Bhartṛhari’s metaphysics: commentarial strategy and new interpretations”. Journal of Indian Philosophy 41 (2): 133-149, 2013.