
Johan Frederik (Frits) Staal
Curriculum vitae
1930 | born in Amsterdam on November 3 |
1948-1951 | studied (BA) mathematics and physics, University of Amsterdam |
1951-1954 | studied philosophy, |
1954-1956 | studied Indian philosophy and Sanskrit in Madras |
1956-1957 | studied Indian logics in Benares |
1957 | MA (Indian) philosophy, University of Amsterdam |
1958 | PhD University of Madras |
1958-… | lecturer, India |
1962-1967 | professor systematics of philosophy, general and comparative philosophy, University of Amsterdam |
1967- | visiting professor linguistics Massachusets Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), Cambridge Mass. |
1968-1991 | professor in philosophy and South Asian Languages, University of California, Berkeley |
1991 | retirement |
2012 | died in Chiang Mai (Thailand) on February 19 |
Special activities and positions
- Chairman of the advisory committee on Asian and Minor Langauges for the Ministry of Education and Sciences, Government of the Netherlands, 1991
- Founding member of the International Institute for Asian Studies, Leiden
- Maker of the film Altar of fire, with R. Gardner, Berkeley.
Sources
- “Bibliography Frits Staal.” In: Dick van der Meij (ed.), India and beyond: aspects of literature, meaning, ritual and thought: essays in honour of Frits Staal, London etc. 1997, pp. 676-695.
- Liber Amicorum Frits Staal, samengesteld door Dick van der Meij, Leiden 1997.
- Benthem, Johan van, “Johan Frederik Staal: 3 november 1930-19 februari 2012.” In: Levensberichten en herdenkingen 2012, KNAW: 70-75.
Selected publications
Staal’s publications on South Asian studies are mentioned up to his departure for the USA in 1967. Later publications are included if they are in some way or other related to Dutch South Asian studies.
1955 “Parmenides and Indian thought.” The Philosophical Quarterly 28: 81-106.
– “Rationality in Indian and western thought.” Mysindia June 19.
– “Het Indische filosofencongres te Peradeniya.” Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte en Psychologie 47: 201-203.
1958 Advaita and neoplatonism: a critical study in comparitive philosophy, s.l. – PhD thesis Madras. – Published in 1961.
– “Notes on some Brahmin communities of South Asia.” Arts and Letters: the Journal of the Royal India, Pakistan and Ceylon Society 32: 1-7.
1959 “Über die Idee der Toleranz im Hinduismus.” Kairos: Zeitschrift für Religionswissenschaft und Theologie 1: 215-218.
– Review of: J.J. Poortman, Ochêma: geschiedenis en zin van het hylisch pluralisme, II: Het hylisch pluralisme in het oosterse denken, Assen 1958. BSOAS 22: 167-169.
1960 “Means of formalization in Indian and western logic.” In: Proceedings of the XIIth International Congress of Philosophy, Firenze, vol. 10, pp. 221-227.
– “Indian philosophy at the international congress of philosophy.” The Philosophical Quarterly 33: 132-136.
– “Correlations between language and logic in Indian thought.” BSOAS 23: 109-122.
– “Formal structures in Indian logic.” Synthese 12: 279-286.
– Review of: D.H.H. Ingalls, Materials for the study of Navya-Nyāya logic, Cambridge 1951. IIJ 4: 68-73.
– Review of: D.S. Ruegg, Contributions à l’histoire de la philosophie linguistique indienne, Paris 1959. Philosophy East and West 10: 55-57.
– Review of: C. Sharma, A critical survey of Indian philosophy, London 1960. The Aryan Path 31: 364-365.
1961 Nambudiri Veda recitation, ‘s-Gravenhage (Disputationes Rheno-Trajectinae 5).
– Advaita and neoplatonism: a critical study in comparative philosophy, Madras (Madras University Philosophical Series 10). – Orig. PhD thesis Madras 1958.
– “The theory of definition in Indian logic.” JAOS 81: 122-126.
– “Het indische denken en westerse vooroordelen.” Wijsgerig persepctief op maatschappij en wetenschap 1: 18-32.
– Review of: J.E. van Lohuizen-de Leeuw, De protohistorische culturen van Voor-Indië en hun datering, rede Amsterdam, Leiden 1960. JAOS 81: 65.
– Review of: L. Dumont and D. Pocock (eds), Contributions to Indian sociology, 1960. JAOS 81: 147-149.
1962 “Philosophy and language.” In: [C.T.K. Chari (ed.)], Essays in philosophy presented to T.M.P. Mahadevan on his fiftieth birthday, Madras, pp. 10-25.
– “Contraposition in Indian logic.” In: Proceedings of the 1960 international congress for logic, methodology and philosophy of science, Stanford, pp. 634-649.
– “Negation and the law of contradiction in Indian thought.” BSOAS 25, 52-71.
– “A method of linguistic description: the order of consonants according to Pāṇini.” Language 38: 1-10.
– Review of: R.C. Zaehner, Hindu and Muslim mysticism, London 1960. JAOS 82: 96-98.
– Review of: E.R. Sreekrishna Sarma, Maṇikaṇa: a Navya-Nyāya manual, [Madras] 1960. JAOS 82: 237-241.
1963 Euclides en Pāṇini: twee methodische richtlijnen voor de filosofie, Amsterdam. – Inaugural Address Amsterdam.
– “Sanskrit and Sanskritization.” Journal of Asian Studies 22: 261-275. – repr. 1972.
– Review of: H. Scharfe, Die Logik im Mahābhāṣya, Berlin 1961. JAOS 83: 252-256.
– Review of: B. Shefts, Grammatical method in Pāṇini: his treatment of Sanskrit present stems, New Haven CT 1961. Language 39: 483-488.
1964 “Reports on vedic rituals and recitations.” In: Yearbook of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, pp. 607-611.
– “Kanttekening.” Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte en Psychologie 56: 125-126.
– Review of: R. Gnoli, The Pramānavārttikam of Dharmakīrti: the first chapter with the autocommentary: text and critical notes, Roma 1960. JAOS 84: 91-92.
– Review of: P. Hacker, Prahlāda : Werden und Wandlungen einer Idealgestalt: Beiträge zur Geschichte des Hinduismus, 2 vols, Mainz 1960. JAOS 84: 464-467.
– Review of: K.C. Pandey, Abhinavagupta: an historical and philosophical study, 2nd ed. Varanasi 1963. Algemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte en Psychologie 56: 148-150.
1965 “Context-sensitive rules in Pāṇini.” Foundations of Language 1: 63-72. – Also publ. in: Studies in Indian linguistics: M.B. Emeneau felicitation volume, Annamalainagar-Poona, pp. 332-339.
– “Reification, quotation and nominalization.” In: Logic and philosophy: essays in honour of I.M. Bochenski, Amsterdam, pp. 151-187.
– “E.W. Beth.” Dialectica 19: 158-179.
– “In memoriam E.W. Beth.” Foundations of Language 1: 81-82.
– “Generative syntax and semantics.” Foundations of Language 1: 133-154.
– “Euclid and Pāṇini.” Philosophy East and West 15: 99-116.
– “On the meaning and validity of theories of rebirth.” Indian Philosophical Annual 1: 125-126.
– “Inleiding.” Wijsgerig Perspectief op Maatschappij en Wetenschap 5 (Boeddhisme): 113-114.
– Review of: F. Vos en E. Zürcher, Spel zonder snaren: enige beschouwingen over Zen, Deventer 1964. Wijsgerig Perspectief op Maatschappij en Wetenschap 5 (Boeddhisme): 165.
1966 “Analyticity.” Foundations of Language 2: 67-93.
– “Room at the top in Sanskrit.” IIJ 9: 165-198.
– “Pāṇini tested by Fowler’s automaton.” JAOS 86: 206-209.
– “Indian semantics I.” JAOS 86: 304-311.
– “My approach to Indian philosophy.” Indian Philosophical Journal 2: 289-302.
– & K. Kuypers, “Loos alarm.” Universiteit en Hogeschool 4.
– Film: Vedic ritual in South India: domestic ritual and śrauta ritual, Utrecht: Stichting Film en Wetenschap.
1967 Word order in Sanskrit and universal grammar, Dordrecht (Foundations of Language Supplementary Series 5).
– “Zinloze en zinvolle filosofie.” De Gids 130,1/2: 49-75.
– “Naschrift.” De Gids 130,6/7: 64-66.
1968 “Context-sensitive rules in Pāṇini.” In: Bhadriraju Krishnamurti (ed.), Studies in Indian linguistics: professor M. B. Emeneau Ṣaṣṭipūrti volume. Poona, pp. 332-339.
– “The twelve ritual chants of the Nambudiri Agniṣṭoma.” In: J.C. Heesterman e.a. (eds), Pratidānam: Indian, Iranian and Indo-European studies presented to Franciscus Bernardus Jacobus Kuiper, on his sixtieth birthday, The Hague [etc.], pp. 409-429.
– & B. van Rootselaar (eds), Proceedings of the third international congress for logic, methodology and philosophy of science, Amsterdam.
– “Logica.” Wijsgerig denken, Amsterdam, pp. 102-125. – reprinted frequently.
– “Het Hindoeïsme.” In: J. van Baal et al. (samenst.), De verhouding tussen de levende godsdiensten, [rapport van een commissie, ingesteld door het Nederlands Gesprek Centrum], Kampen, pp. 8-12.
– “Een wijsgerige viesie.” In: J. van Baal et al. (samenst.), De verhouding tussen de levende godsdiensten, [rapport van een commissie, ingesteld door het Nederlands Gesprek Centrum], Kampen, pp. 41-42.
1973 “Uncontained rules of meaning.” Proceedings of the fourth international congress for logic, methodology and philosophy of science, Amsterdam, pp. 845-862.
1974 “Het wetenschappelijk onderzoek van de mystiek.” De Gids 137: 3-34, 108-132.
1978 “Het woord als middel.” De Gids 141: 353-363.
1979 Comment: “Altar of fire.” American Anthropologist 81: 346-347.
1980 “Wat het oosten ons kan leren.” De Gids 143: 89-95.
1982 “What is happening in classical Indology.” The Journal of Asian Studies 41: 269-291.
1983 & C.V. Somayajipad and M. Itti Ravi Nambudiri, Agni, the Vedic ritual of the fire altar, photographs by Adelaide deMenil, 2 vols, Berkeley, CA.
1984 “Over het Sanskrit als moeder der Germaanse taaltakken.” De Gids 147, 8/9/10: 579-580.
1986 Over zin en onzin in filosofie, religie en wetenschap, Amsterdam.
1987 “De toekomst van de wetenschap in Nederland: open brief aan Minister Deetman.” Elseviers Weekblad, August 29.
– Het Vuuraltaar (beeld en geluid), Hilversum: NOS (60 min.).
1989 “Moeder vindt beter dat ik geen Sanskriet doe.” De Gids 152/10: 771-792. – reprinted in 1991.
1991 & S.A. Bonebakker, E. Gene Smith and H.J. Verkuyl, Baby Krishna: rapport van de Adviescommissie Kleine Letteren, The Hague.
– “Moeder vindt beter dat ik geen Sanskriet doe: drie oriëntalisten: Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1857-1936), Willem Caland (1859-1932), Robert Hans van Gulik (1910-1967).” In: H.W. von der Dunk [et al.], Erflaters van de twintigste eeuw, Amsterdam, pp. 111-147, 312-313.
1992 “Agni 1990, with an appendix by H.F. Arnold.” In: A.W. van den Hoek, D.H.A. Kolff, M.S. Oort (eds), Ritual, state and history in South Asia : essays in honour of J.C. Heesterman, Leiden (Memoirs of the Kern Institute 5), pp. 650-676.
2003 Collections Frits Staal [: a catalogue of recordings taken between 1957 and 1980 chiefly in South India and especially of mantras and other ritual ercitations and chants among the Nambudiri brahmins of Kerala; prepared for the Berkeley Language Centre, University of California at Berkeley, July-August 2003], Berkeley CA.
2004 “From prāṅmukham to sarvatomukham: a thread through the Śrauta maze.” In: Arlo Griffiths and Jan E.M. Houben (eds), The Vedas: texts, language & ritual: proceedings of the third international Vedic workshop, Leiden 2002, Groningen (Groningen Oriental Studies 20), pp. 521-555.