Rāmānuja’s Worldliness

"Rāmānuja's Worldliness" explores three senses in which the influential south Indian theologian Rāmānuja (11th century) might be considered a worldly thinker. In the first, “worldly” simply means “believing that the world exists.” In the second sense, “worldliness” amounts to a respect for the ordinary and everyday—for example, appeals to facts that no honest person could deny—as well as a disdain for obscurantism. In the third sense, “worldly” means intervening in the world, wanting to change it somehow rather than simply withdraw from it. Many hagiographies remember Rāmānuja as a social reformer, and regardless of their veracity, they witness a desire to attribute to Rāmānuja yet another way of caring about the world. The paper concludes by reflecting on how (or whether) these three senses of worldliness—philosophical realism, respect for the ordinary, and a commitment to social change—are related to each other.