Welcome!
I'm Malcolm Keating.


I work on philosophy of language, epistemology, and argumentation.

I think about these topics along with Sanskrit-language philosophers in the Indian subcontinent. Along the way, I make connections with contemporary analytic philosophy.

My research focuses on two main questions and traditions:


(1) With early Nyāya: What norms should govern our arguments with other people?
(2) With Bhāṭṭa Mīmāṃsā: How do we make sense of metaphorical, non-referential, etc. language?


My full CV is here. Contact: mkeating at smith dot edu (schedule appointments here)

About me:

As of January 1, 2024:
Visiting Associate Professor of Philosophy, Smith College, Northampton, MA (three-year appointment)

On leave, beginning January 1, 2024:
Associate Professor of Philosophy, Yale-NUS College, Singapore

Courtesy Joint Appointment at National University of Singapore.

Forthcoming Soon

  • Reason in an Uncertain World: Nyāya Philosophers on Argumentation and Living Well. Oxford University Press. In production, expected late-2024 publication date.
  • Classical Sanskrit for Everyone: A Guide for Absolute Beginners. Hackett Publishing. In production, expected mid-2024 publication date.

Work in Progress

  • The Vindication of the World: Essays Engaging with Stephen Phillips. Collection of essays co-edited with Matthew R. Dasti. Under contract with Routledge, expected 2024 publication date.
  • Buddhist Philosophy and Its Critics. Collection of primary source translations, edited by Charles Goodman, with me as the secondary editor. He and I are also co-translating sections of Kumārila's Ślokavārttika and Uddyotakara's Nyāyavārttika. Under consideration with publisher, translations underway.
  • Kumārila Bhaṭṭa on Reference and Knowledge. Monograph on Kumārila Bhaṭṭa's philosophy of language and epistemology. In progress.

Call for Contributions

I am the general editor for Reading Primary Sources in Asian Philosophies, a new electronic collection that is part of the Bloomsbury Philosophy Library. See full call for submissions on PhilEvents.
Each entry will be a succinct, lively introduction and guide to an important Asian philosophical text. The collection will include Asian texts from any time period or geographical region: for instance, China, India, Japan, Korea, or Southeast Asia, texts which may be ancient, classical, or modern (colonial, post-colonial, etc.). Entries may be relevant to any philosophical subdiscipline, so long as they are grounded in a specific text.

Find me elsewhere online:

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