Samuel Wright

Samuel Wright

Associate Professor, Plaksha University

PhD, University of Chicago

Area of Expertise:

Philosophy History

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About Samuel Wright

Dr. Samuel Wright is an intellectual historian of South Asia. Much of his research explores connections between philosophical and practical life. His first book, A Time of Novelty: logic, emotion, and intellectual life in early modern India, 1500-1700 CE (Oxford University Press, 2021), argues that novelty was a primary concern of 'new' nyaya philosophers in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century India employed to mark the boundaries of a philosophical community in both intellectual and emotional terms. The book received a First Book Prize from the Ludo and Rosane Rocher Foundation. 

His current research interests include the historical study of time and, increasingly, climate studies. In addition to several articles, he is currently working on a book, tentatively titled Earth and Planet in Climatic Reflection, that explores the implications of the climate crisis for philosophical and historical thought by leveraging resources from nyaya philosophy, phenomenology, and biology.

He has published in journals such as Journal of Asian Studies, Journal of Indian Philosophy, and Indian Economic and Social History Review. He also serves on the advisory board of Journal of South Asian Intellectual History. 

Research Interests
  • Intellectual History
  • History of Emotions
  • Time and Temporality
  • Indian Philosophy
  • Climate Studies
Past Associations
  • Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO)
  • Ahmedabad University
  • Nalanda University
Education
  • PhD, South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago