Hugo David
Lecturer
Aire(s) géographique(s)
South Asia, South India, Kerala
Discipline(s)
Codicology, Linguistics, Sanskrit philology, Philosophy
Hugo David
Lecturer
Aire(s) géographique(s)
South Asia, South India, Kerala
Discipline(s)
Codicology, Linguistics, Sanskrit philology, Philosophy
Thèmes de recherche
History of Indian Philosophy
History of linguistic ideas in ancient India
History of Indian aesthetics
Codicology and history of Kerala manuscript collections
Axes de recherche EFEO
Digital heritage and humanities
Production and dissemination of knowledge, writing, and images
Religions, representations, and powers
Research in progress
Hugo David’s research focuses on the history of philosophical texts and ideas in ancient India, particularly their development in the medieval and pre-modern periods (400-1600 CE). His main work is devoted to the traditions of linguistic analysis, logic, and exegesis developed in India at the beginning of the second millennium, and their evolution in medieval Brahmanical scholasticism (ritual, metaphysics, ontology, theology). His early work focused on the interactions between linguistics and metaphysics in non-dualistic (Advaita) Vedānta, derived from the thought of the philosopher and exegete Śaṅkara (8th century), particularly in the work of Prakāśātman and the so-called “Vivaraṇa” school of thought that it inspired. He has since become interested in theories of action and injunctive discourse in the treatises of Maṇḍana Miśra (Vidhiviveka, Bhāvanāviveka) and Śālikanātha, and more generally to the dimensions of Indian discourse analysis that go beyond a simple referential framework (utterance, command, suggestion, implication, ambiguity, etc.). His research currently focuses mainly on the foundations of Indian language analysis in a 5th-century text, the Vākyapadīya (“Treatise on Words and Phrases”) by the grammarian and philosopher Bhartṛhari, and its extensions in Kashmiri poetics (Mukula Bhaṭṭa, Mahima Bhaṭṭa). Since 2018, he has also been interested in the material and codicological aspects of Indian intellectual history, through the study of collections of palm leaf manuscripts preserved in South India. In this capacity, he was one of the initiators of the Kerala Manuscript Preservation Center (KMPC) in Thrissur (Central Kerala) in 2020, co-managed by the EFEO and the Center for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) at the University of Hamburg, and since 2023 he has been leading the DiPiKA (“Digital Preservation of Kerala Archives”) project team, funded by the Arcadia Foundation, which aims to compile a new inventory of private manuscript collections in the state of Kerala and digitize the most important ones.
Research project
Études et formation
- 2003, agrégation in philosophy
- 2003, bachelor’s degree in Indian studies, Paris III University
- 2007, diploma from the EPHE (5th section)
- 2012, doctorate in philosophy and Indian studies, EPHE (5th section)
Parcours professionnel à l’EFEO
- Lecturer since 2015.
- Researcher at the Pondicherry Center from 2016 to 2022.
- Head of the Indology Department at the French Institute in Pondicherry on behalf of the EFEO from July 2020 to August 2023.
Parcours professionnel en dehors de l’EFEO
- Associate Professor of Philosophy, Academies of Dijon and Nancy-Metz, from 2005 to 2012.
- Postdoctoral researcher (Newton International Fellow) at the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom), from 2013 to 2014.
- Postdoctoral researcher at the Institut für Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens of the Academy of Sciences in Vienna (Austria), 2015.
- Lecturer in Sanskrit language and literature at Paris III-Sorbonne-Nouvelle University, since 2023.
Distinctions
- Émile Sénart Prize 2022 (Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres), for his book Une Philosophie de la Parole (EFEO, 2020).
Translated with DeepL.com
Bibliographie (HAL)
Ouvrages
Hugo David. Une philosophie de la parole : L’Enquête sur la connaissance verbale (Śābdanirṇaya) de Prakāśātman, maître advaitin du Xe siècle. Hugo David. Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient, 198, pp.2 vol. (xi, 261 ; 265-876), 2020, Monographies / PEFEO, 978-2-85539-312-4 (EFEO) 978-3-7001-8697-7 (OAW). ⟨hal-03009151⟩
Valérie Raby, Bernard Colombat, Jean-Luc Chevillard, Hugo David, Jean-Patrick Guillaume, et al. (Dir.). L’énoncé dans les traditions linguistiques : logos, vākya, kalām, oratio et les autres. Valérie Raby. Armand Colin, 205 (2017/1), 146 p., 2017, revue Langages, 9782200931056. ⟨hal-01524828⟩
Chapitres d‘ouvrage
Hugo David. Action Theory and Scriptural Exegesis in Early Advaita-Vedānta (3): Maṇḍana Miśra on Ontology, Time and Commandment. V. Eltschinger, B. Kellner, E. Mills & I. Ratié. Road Less Travelled. Felicitation Volume in Honor of John Taber, University of Vienna, pp.37-95, 2021, 978-3-902501-39-4. ⟨hal-03609883⟩
Hugo David. The birth of Uttara-Mīmāṃsā: a new look at the early history of vedānta from a hermeneutic point of view. G. Colas; E. Aussant. Les scolastiques indiennes, Études thématiques (32), Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient, pp.127-142, 2020. ⟨hal-03103269⟩
Hugo David. Action theory and scriptural exegesis in early Advaita-Vedānta (2). B. Kellner; P. McAllister; H. Lasic; S. Mac Clintock. Reverberations of Dharmakīrti‘s Philosophy: Proceedings of the Fifth International Dharmakīrti Conference Heidelberg, August 26 to 30, 2014, Austrian Academy of Sciences, pp.41-76, 2020, 978-3-7001-8781-3. ⟨hal-03103226⟩
Hugo David. Action Theory and Scriptural Exegesis in Early Advaita-Vedānta (2) : Maṇḍana Miśra’s Excursus on the Buddha’s Omniscience. S. McClintock; H. Lasic; P. McAllister; B. Kellner. Reverberations of Dharmakīrti's Philosophy. Proceedings of the 5th International Dharma¬kīrti Conference, Austrian Academy of Sciences Press, pp.41-76, 2020. ⟨halshs-03137177⟩
Hugo David. Speaking of the Individual : Prakāśātman’s Akhaṇḍārthavāda and the Beginnings of a Theory of Language in Classical Advaita-Vedānta. Graheli, A. The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Philosophy of Language., Bloomsbury Academic, pp.313-339, 2020. ⟨halshs-02538410⟩
Hugo David. Towards a Critical Edition of Śaṅkara’s ‘Longer’ Aitareyopaniṣadbhāṣya: a Preliminary Report based on two Cambridge Manuscripts. Vergiani, Vincenzo; Cuneo, Daniele; Formigatti, Camillo Alessio. Indic Manuscript Cultures through the Ages, De Gruyter, pp.727-754, 2017, 978-3-11-054310-0. ⟨10.1515/9783110543100-022⟩. ⟨halshs-02417365⟩
Hugo David. A Contribution of Vedānta to the History of Mīmāṃsā. Prakāśātman’s interpretation of ‘verbal effectuation’ (śabdabhāvanā). Nina Mirnig; Michael Williams; Péter-Dániel Szántó. Puṣpikā: Tracing Ancient India through Texts and Traditions. Contributions to Current Research in Indology, 1, Oxbow Books, pp.79-105, 2013. ⟨halshs-02416359⟩
Hugo David. Action Theory and Scriptural Exegesis in Early Advaita-Vedānta (1) : Maṇḍana Miśra on upadeśa and iṣṭasādhanatā. Vincent Eltschinger; Helmut Krasser. Scriptural Authority, Reason, and Action. Proceedings of a Panel at the 14th World Sanskrit Conference, Kyōto, September 1-5, 2009, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften Verlag., pp.271-318, 2013. ⟨halshs-02416389⟩
Articles dans une revue
Hugo David, Jonathan Duquette. Epistemology, Logic and Metaphysics in Pre-Modern India: New Avenues for the Study of Navya-Nyāya. Journal of Indian Philosophy, 2021, vol. 49.2, ⟨10.1007/s10781-021-09472-3⟩. ⟨halshs-03259355⟩
Hugo David. Pratibhā as Vākyārtha? Bhartr̥hari’s Theory of “Insight” as the Object of a Sentence and Its Early Interpretations. Journal of Indian Philosophy, 2021, ⟨10.1007/s10781-021-09482-1⟩. ⟨halshs-03364869⟩
F. Lloret, David Eon, Etienne Bustarret, F. Donatini, D. Araujo, et al.. Selectively boron doped homoepitaxial diamond growth for power device applications. Applied Physics Letters, 2021, 118 (2), pp.023504. ⟨10.1063/5.0031478⟩. ⟨hal-03361210⟩
Hugo David. [compte-rendu] J-M. Verpoorten, La Prakaraṇa-pañcikā de Śālikanātha, Chapitre 6, Section 1. Le moyen de connaissance valide et la perception (Louvain-la-Neuve, 2018). Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient, 2020, pp.368-374. ⟨halshs-03137159⟩
Hugo David. Compte rendu de T. Wada, Navya-Nyāya Philosophy of Language (New Delhi, DK Printworld 2020). Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient, 2020, pp.512-515. ⟨halshs-03313476⟩
Hugo David. Les définitions de l’énoncé (vākya) dans la tradition sanskrite : entre grammaire et exégèse. Langages, 2017, 205, pp.27-41. ⟨halshs-02417297⟩
Valérie Raby, Bernard Colombat, Jean-Luc Chevillard, Hugo David, Jean-Patrick Guillaume, et al.. Repères pour l’approche de l’énoncé dans les traditions linguistiques. Langages, 2017, L’énoncé dans les traditions linguistiques : logos, vākya, kalām, oratio et les autres, 205 (2017/1), pp.11-25. ⟨10.3917/lang.205.0011⟩. ⟨hal-01524831⟩
Hugo David. Une ontologie du commandement ? Réflexions sur l’idée d’existence, l’impératif et l’objet du Veda. ThéoRèmes : Enjeux des approches empiriques des religions, 2017, 11, ⟨10.4000/theoremes.1216⟩. ⟨halshs-02417334⟩
Hugo David. Johannes Schneider: Eine buddhistische Kritik der indischen Götter. Śaṃkarasvāmins Devātiśayastotra mit Prajñāvarmans Kommentar. Nach dem tibetischen Tanjur herausgegeben und übersetzt.. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 2016, pp.210-212. ⟨10.1017/S0041977X15001317⟩. ⟨halshs-02417433⟩
Hugo David. Les origines du Vedānta comme tradition scolastique. État du problème, nouvelles hypothèses. Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient, 2016, 102 (1), pp.9-44. ⟨10.3406/befeo.2016.6230⟩. ⟨halshs-02417310⟩
Hugo David. Theories of Human Action in Early Medieval Brahmanism (600-1000) : Activity, Speech and Desire. The Journal of Value Inquiry, 2015, 49 (4), pp.567-595. ⟨halshs-02416433⟩
Hugo David. Isabelle ratié, Une critique bouddhique du Soi selon la Mīmāṃsā. Présentation, édition critique et traduction de la Mīmāṃsakaparikalpitātmaparīkṣā de Śāntarakṣita(Tattvasaṅgraha 222-284 et Pañjikā), Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, Sitzungsberichte, 857. Band, Beiträge zur Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens 84, Wien, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2014, xiii-371 p. [ISBN 978-3-7001-7665-7, 55 €]. 2015, pp.368-373. ⟨halshs-02417400⟩
Hugo David. Time, Action and Narration : on some Exegetical Sources of Abhinavagupta’s Aesthetic Theory. Journal of Indian Philosophy, 2014, 44, pp.125.154. ⟨halshs-02416422⟩
Hugo David. Nouvelles tendances dans l'étude de la Mīmāṃsā. Trois publications récentes sur l'exégèse brahmanique classique. Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient, 2012, 99 (1), pp.395 - 408. ⟨10.3406/befeo.2012.6162⟩. ⟨halshs-02416409⟩
Hugo David. Johannes Bronkhorst (éd.), Munamsa and Vedanta. Interaction and continuity.. Bulletin de l'Ecole française d'Extrême-Orient, 2007, pp.338-340. ⟨halshs-02417384⟩
N° spéciaux de revue
Hugo David, Jonathan Duquette. Navya-Nyāya and Sanskrit Knowledge Systems (1400-1900). Journal of Indian Philosophy, vol. 49.2, 2021. ⟨halshs-03259350⟩
Autres publications scientifiques
Emmanuel Francis, Charles Li, Eva Wilden, Ines G. Zupanov Ceias Cnrs, Margherita Trento, et al.. TST Online Catalogue (tst.cnrs.fr). 2022. ⟨hal-03902450⟩