Marie-Helene Gorisse

My research explores the interconnections between epistemology, metaphysics, ethics and soteriology in Jainism, and concentrates on the ways in which Jains engage with their religious others.

This research has impact beyond Jain studies. First, it contributes to cross-cultural, inter-religious and interdisciplinary dialogue, by representing lesser-known traditions within mainstream debates, as well as by exploring innovative methods for cross-pollination between traditions and disciplines. 

Second, this research is far-reaching at a time of global interfaith violence, because we find in Jainism innovative pre-modern approaches for negotiating situations in which one is confronted with opposing statements that respect the particularity and highlight the contribution of other traditions.

Core principles of Jainism, such as non-violence, mindfulness and non-one-sidedness have a meaningful position in my teaching, research and participation to concrete projects in public life. In this dynamic, I am leading the establishment and development of the new “Dharmanath Research Network in Jain Studies” (established in Autumn 2023, website in construction), that marks the beginning of an ambitious collaboration between the University of Birmingham and the global Jain community. With this collaboration, the University of Birmingham is becoming an internationally renowned centre for Jain studies.

• First, our curriculum includes teachings in Jainism from the first year to the Master level and I welcome supervising PhD projects on Jainism.
• It is also possible to join our post-doc community in Jain Studies, like Jinesh Sheth, who joined us in January 2024, or to collaborate with Areti Theofilopoulou, the Assistant Professor in the Ethics of Non-Violence.
• Next to this, we are currently establishing the Paul Dundas collection, having received the donation of Paul’s world-leading collection of books in Jain Studies after his untimely passing in April 2023.
• We also develop continued collaborations on interfaith dialogue and on cataloguing with the Institute of Jainology in London, and we just launched the first “Dialogues in European Jain Studies” lecture series in collaboration with Ghent University and with the Arihant Institute. 

I am currently preparing a research monograph entitled Language and transformative knowledge. The holistic view of the Jain Prabhācandra. This monograph presents novel ideas about Jain epistemology, showing how Jain systematic theory of knowledge was developed in an apologetic context at a time of inter-doctrinal debates. I especially investigate the theory according to which human beings know the complex reality by means of seven main perspectives, which is a trading mark of Jainism, and I show that this theory was shaped by early post-canonical treatises on hermeneutics, grammar and karmic bondage calculus.

I have co-founded the “Jaina Philosophy Research Group”, which for the first time gathers researchers from Europe, India, and the States to set the objectives of the discipline, to organise reading groups and conferences, and to undertake collective publication projects. In 2023, the activities of our group included a one-week workshop on Samantabhadra’s Āptamīmāṃsā and Akalaṅka’s Aṣṭaśatī – 9 to 16; and a symposium “Knowing Through Perspectives in Jain Philosophy: Historical Approaches” to workshop our forthcoming edited volume Anekāntavāda: Sources and Varieties (Special Issue of the Journal of Indian Philosophy), that will constitute a landmark in the field of Jain studies.

Last but not least, I contribute to a series of pioneering projects in the field of global philosophy of religion. First as a member of the “Birmingham Centre for Philosophy of Religion”, whose research projects include the recent JTF funded project “Global Philosophy of Religion” led by Yujin Nagasawa. I am also as the first co-chair of the “Global Critical Philosophy of Religion” Unit at the American Academy of Religion. This unit notably showcases the activities of a homonymous international research group, which has been funded by NEH, the Wabash Center and JTF.

• Post-Doctoral Researcher in Jain theories of inference (Ghent University)
• Post-Doctoral Researcher in Jain conceptions of authority (Leiden University)
• Teaching Fellow in South Asian classical and modern philosophy, and on Jainism (SOAS, London)
• Teaching Fellow in South Asian religions, philosophies, literature and in Sanskrit and Prakrit (Ghent University)
• Post-Doctoral Researcher in the “Global Philosophy of Religion” project led by Yujin Nagasawa and funded by the Templeton foundation (University of Birmingham)
• Co-chair of the “Global Critical Philosophy of Religion” Unit at the AAR
• Co-founder of the Jain Philosophy Research Group