I am a translation theorist, philosopher and teacher. I write on: Ethics, Political Philosophy, the Philosophy of Thought, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Religion and Asian Philosophy---especially Indian Philosophy, Indian moral philosophy and philosophies of meditation. A theme of my research is the connection between abstract models of thought and understanding, and outcomes of colonialism, nationalism, anthropocentrism and other moral and political phenomena. My work shows that rigorous research methodologies are decolonial while arbitrary approaches to the data sustain oppression. I am author of three peer reviewed monographs, two edited volumes, a translation and commentary of an ancient text of moral theory from Sanskrit, and several papers spanning my areas of research.

My work began tracking problems in the study of Non-Western philosophy, especially Indian moral philosophy, which I then traced to common assumptions in twentieth century philosophy of language (in the Analytic and Continental traditions) and then further back in the West's tradition starting with the founding Greek thinkers. A lot of my work addresses the relationship between social, political and epistemic problems and assumed models of thought.

For up to date information about my books, research and other publications, please see:

my website: shyam.org or

my website: shyam-ranganathan.info

For a relatively complete list of publications, please see My Regularly Updated and (usually) Complete Bibliography.

For information about my new, free philosophy education project, see Yoga Philosophy at : yogaphilosophy.com

Research Interests

Approach to Teaching

My goal in teaching is to get students to participate in their own education. My smaller courses with no TA are frequently flipped: students watch lectures and do readings on their own time (and answer pass/fail commentary questions to incentivize keeping up with lessons) and class is devoted to conversation — interaction with me and other students—which students are rewarded for attending. All questions and doubts about the material are meant to be dealt with in class. Pass/fail assignments are also designed to give students practice on the more challenging written and test assignments. A goal of mine is to render everything explicit, including grading criteria: there shouldn't be any surprises with respect to how grades are awarded, in my classes.

Current Courses

I am a translation theorist, philosopher and teacher. I write on: Ethics, Political Philosophy, the Philosophy of Thought, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Religion and Asian Philosophy---especially Indian Philosophy, Indian moral philosophy and philosophies of meditation. A theme of my research is the connection between abstract models of thought and understanding, and outcomes of colonialism, nationalism, anthropocentrism and other moral and political phenomena. My work shows that rigorous research methodologies are decolonial while arbitrary approaches to the data sustain oppression. I am author of three peer reviewed monographs, two edited volumes, a translation and commentary of an ancient text of moral theory from Sanskrit, and several papers spanning my areas of research.

My work began tracking problems in the study of Non-Western philosophy, especially Indian moral philosophy, which I then traced to common assumptions in twentieth century philosophy of language (in the Analytic and Continental traditions) and then further back in the West's tradition starting with the founding Greek thinkers. A lot of my work addresses the relationship between social, political and epistemic problems and assumed models of thought.

For up to date information about my books, research and other publications, please see:

my website: shyam.org or

my website: shyam-ranganathan.info

For a relatively complete list of publications, please see My Regularly Updated and (usually) Complete Bibliography.

For information about my new, free philosophy education project, see Yoga Philosophy at : yogaphilosophy.com

Degrees

Professional Leadership

I am one of the founding members of the York Philosophy Diversity Committee, and worked to create our Diversify our Syllabi Series, which provides support for philosophy teachers to include marginalized sources in their courses. I am editor of two international collections of Indian Ethics, an area claimed by scholars prior to my work to be non-existent. I am a member of the York South Asian Studies Collective, and work on curricular changes to serve the interests of York's diverse student population.

Community Contributions

I am a DE&I consultant for organizations outside of the university interested in moving past historical injustice in organizational structure and the products and services offered.
I am the founder of Yoga Philosophy, a scholar practitioner, public philosophy initiative that is the first and only source of scholarly information about Yoga and Philosophy available to interested students at large.
I have contributed to free, public education on these topics online and via organizations such as Yoga Alliance.

Research Interests

Approach to Teaching

My goal in teaching is to get students to participate in their own education. My smaller courses with no TA are frequently flipped: students watch lectures and do readings on their own time (and answer pass/fail commentary questions to incentivize keeping up with lessons) and class is devoted to conversation — interaction with me and other students—which students are rewarded for attending. All questions and doubts about the material are meant to be dealt with in class. Pass/fail assignments are also designed to give students practice on the more challenging written and test assignments. A goal of mine is to render everything explicit, including grading criteria: there shouldn't be any surprises with respect to how grades are awarded, in my classes.

Current Courses