'''Bimal Krishna Matilal''' (1935-1991) was an [[India]]n [[philosopher]] whose influential writings present the [[Indian logic|Indian philosophical tradition]] as being concerned with the same issues as have been the theme in Western [[philosophy]]. From 1977 to 1991 he
was the [[Spalding Professorship of Eastern Religions]] at [[Oxford University]].  

Fluent in [[Sanskrit]] from an early age, Matilal was also drawn towards [[Mathematics]] and [[Logic]].  He was trained in the traditional Indian philosophical system by leading scholars of the [[Sanskrit College]], where he himself was a teacher from 1957 to 1962.  
He was taught by scholars like Pandit Taranath Tarkatirtha and Mahamahopadhyay Kalipada Tarkacharya.  He also interacted with Pandit Ananta Kumar Nyayatarkatirtha, Madhusudan Nyayacharya and Visvabandhu Tarkatirtha.  The ''upadhi'' (degree) of Tarkatirtha (master of Logic) was awarded to him in 1962. 

While at Sanskrit College, Matilal came in contact with the [[Indologist]] Daniel Ingalls of
Harvard University, who encouraged him to join the PhD program there.  Matilal secured a [[Fulbright  Program|Fulbright Fellowship]] and completed his PhD under Ingalls on the [[Navya Nyaya]] doctrine of [[negation]], between 1962 and 1965. During this period he also studied with [[W.V.O. Quine]].  Subsequently, he was professor of Sanskrit at the [[University of Toronto]], and in 1977 he was elected as Spalding Professor at [[Oxford University]], succeeding [[Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan]] and [[RC Zaehner]]. 

In his work, he presented the Indian systems of logic, particularly [[Nyaya]]-[[Vaishesika]], [[Mimamsa]] and [[Buddhist philosophy]], as being relevant in modern philosophical discourse.  This was in contrast with the German approach to Indian studies, oftten called ''Indology'', which prefers minute grammatical study as opposed to a concern for the development of the ideas as a whole in the general philosophical context. Thus, Matilal presented Indian Philosophical thought more as a synthesis rather than a mere exposition. This helped create a vibrant revival of interest in Indian philosophical tradition as a relevant source of ideas rather than a dead discipline.  

He was also the founder editor of the ''Journal of Indian Philosophy''.

Matilal died of cancer on June 8th 1991. 

==References==
# Heeraman Tiwari, Introduction to the ''Logical and Ethical Issues: An essay on the Indian Philosophy of Religion'', University of Calcutta 1982. 
# J.N. Mohanty, Introduction to ''Relativism, Suffering and Beyond: Essays in Memory of Bimal K. Matilal'', Oxford University Press 1997. 

===Works by Matilal===

# ''Epistemology, Logic and Grammar in Indian Philosophical Analysis'', Mouton and co, 1971
# ''Logic, Language and Reality'', Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi 1985
# ''Perception: An essay on Classical Indian Theory of Knowledge'', Oxford 1986
# ''Logical and Ethical Issues: An essay on the Indian Philosophy of Religion'', Calcutta University 1982 (repr. Chronicle Books, Delhi 2004)
# ''Navya Nyâya Doctrine of Negation'', Harvard Oriental Series 46, 1968
# ''The word and the world: India's contribution to the study of language'', Oxford 1990
# ''The Character of Logic in India'', Oxford 
# ''Niti, Yukti o Dharma'', (in [[Bengali language|Bengali]]), Ananda Publishers Calcutta 1988. 

==See also==
* [[Indian Logic]]
* [[Sakatayana]] (Matilal discusses the claim that all nominals are ultimately derived from verbal roots)
* [[Gotama]] The founder of the [[Nyaya]] school

===External links===
*[http://philosophy-ju.org/news&announce/index.html A conference honouring Matilal] is being organized in [[Jadavpur University]] in January 2007.

[[Category:Sanskrit grammarians]]
[[Category:Modern Indian philosophers|Matilal, Bimal Krishna]]