Jessica Frazier

Jessica Frazier is Lecturer in Theology and Religion at Trinity College, Oxford, and a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Hindu studies. Her work explores key philosophical themes across cultures, from Indian concepts of Being to 20th century phenomenology. She is particularly interested in questions about ontology, value, selfhood and human flourishing. Frazier is the founding editor of the Journal of Hindu Studies and a frequent contributor to BBC radio.

Academic Interests

The Unity of Being

Indian philosophy contains a large array of arguments for the unity of all existence. Frazier's work explores the overall vision of reality they express, the forms the arguments take, and the different kinds of unity they imply. These arguments built up from sources in the Upanisads and Samkhya philosophy, through the arguments of Indian scholastic philosopher. Some build on (what 2000 years later became known in the West as) 'Bradley's Regress', effectively showing that all reality is at base unified by a single medium that allows things to connect. Others develop an alternative to the Cosmological Argument in Abrahamic theism, using modal explanation rather than causal sequence to argue that there must be a unified foundation of reality. Still others point to the way that the causality of the world seems to be essentially entangled in the diverse powers, particularly in cases of emergence. Idealist versions look at the unity of experience and the way ideas themselves are entangled. Some of these arguments are novel and others are found in some version among Western thinkers like Spinoza. A number of Frazier's recent articles and an upcoming book explore this philosophical worldview.

Global Philosophy

Having helped to build the undergraduate teaching of Indian philosophy at Oxford, Frazier explores ideas in Indic cultures that have philosophical value as useful contributions to contemporary debates. She has described 'global' or 'comparative' philosophy as something that helps us develop a 'view from above' of the ways that ideas can be rationally and meaningfully unpacked. This leads us to understand the ideas better, to see alternative possible views, and to assess their respective virtues - ultimately leading to progress in philosophy itself. She holds that philosophical insights should not be limited within specific cultural traditions, arguing that if we can discuss matters in the shared world we live in with people from other cultures, resolving practical problems, the same should go for philosophical and existential problems as well.

Phenomenology and Being

Having spent many years studying post-Heideggerian approaches to Being, Frazier also explores the culmination of certain strands of phenomenology in Hans Georg-Gadamer's 'hermeneutic ontology' which builds on the idea that Being which can be understood is language. She argues that Gadamer weaves insights from the late Plato and Hegel into his Heideggerian roots, and creates a distinctive picture of Being as pure form. This picture is meant to continue the project of appreciating and participating in existence, whilst avoiding the reifying and objectifying tendencies of which Nietzsche warned. She also explores the ways that Gadamer's later essays bring out the implications of this view for ethics, arts, globalism, and socio-political theory.

Selected publications

• Frazier, Jessica (2024-08-14), "What Kind of 'God' do Hindu Arguments for the Divine Show? Five Novel Divine Attributes of Brahman", Sophia, Bloomsbury, ISBN 9781474251556
• Frazier, Jessica (2024-08-23), "Against Infinite Nothingness: Ultimate Ground vs Metaphysical Nihilism in Indian Philosophy", Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie, Dialogues in South Asian Traditions: Religion, Philosophy, Literature and History., vol. 66, no. 3, Ashgate, ISBN 1409474550
• Frazier, Jessica (2009), Reality, religion, and passion : Indian and Western approaches in Hans-Georg Gadamer and Rupa Gosvami, Studies in comparative philosophy and religion., Lexington Books, ISBN 0739132199

External links

• [1]Jessica Frazier for Engelsberg Ideas: A Little History of the Fierce Goddess

• Jessica Frazier on Creation Myths on BBC Radio 4: Jessica Frazier discusses creation myths from around the world.
• Jessica Frazier on Indian Philosophy from History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps: An interview with Jessica Frazier about philosophical ideas and arguments in the Vedas, Upanisads and later Hindu texts.
• Beautiful Structures: Gadamer on Beauty, Love, Faith, and the Nature of Value from Transpositions: Jessica Frazier on Gadamer's approach to beauty, love and value.
• Dr Jessica Frazier speaking on Gadamer and Religion (video) from the St John's College, Nottingham Timeline project: Jessica Frazier explains Gadamer's thought, and explores his significance for the study of religion.
• Lakshmi, BBC Radio 4 In Our Time: Jessica Frazier on the panel with Jacqueline Suthren-Hirst and Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad.