As a Fellow at IIAS Shimla, Dr Mahak Uppal will be conducting her research on the topic “Understanding Emotions: Insights from Natyashastra and Buddhism”. Since graduation, she has been associated with the Philosophy Department of University of Delhi in varying capacities of being a Graduate and Post-Graduate scholar, an M.Phil. and Ph.D. Researcher, an Adjunct Faculty, and most recently as an ICSSR Post Doctoral Fellow.
M.Phil. onwards she has been constantly engaged in understanding various aspects surrounding the nature, mechanism, and significance of the Emotion phenomenon. While her M.Phil. thesis tried to answer the question of “why emotions are there?”, from a neurobiological perspective; the Ph.D. thesis signified a philosophical exploration beginning with the questions of “where emotions are in the history of philosophy?” and “what is the significance accorded to them?”, to the questions of “what emotions are not?”, “what emotions are?”, and “how they associate and interact with reason and rationality?”. Through her Post Doctoral engagements, she is still seeking an answer to the question of “what emotions are?”, however this time by venturing into the vast domain of classical Indian philosophical thinking. She began this parallel journey by digging through Bharatmuni’s Natyasastra in a bid to find the contours of a plausible theory of emotions. At IIAS Shimla she intends to explore how Bauddha Darsana conceptualizes emotions, and how that understanding squares with the one emanating from the Natyasastra.
Though she is passionately interested in philosophy as such, and several of its sub-specializations excite her as a learner and scholar; still, among these, and apart from philosophy of emotions, she is more specifically interested in philosophy of mind, ethics, feminist thinking, and the nature of philosophy itself. Some of these diverse interests have stemmed from her formal engagements as a student as well as a teacher of philosophy.
Dr Uppal has a teaching experience of more than three years as adjunct faculty in various colleges of University of Delhi, where she got the opportunity to teach a variety of courses including Logic, Indian Philosophy, Analytic Philosophy, Philosophy of Language, Critical Thinking, and a range of papers on Ethics including Bioethics, Ethics and Culture, Ethics in Public Domain, etc. Amongst these, as a teacher, she draws utmost satisfaction in introducing students to Philosophy, and acquainting them with Moral Philosophy or Ethics.
Together with her teaching responsibilities she has also been engaged in publishing her work in journals. While one paper explores the prospects of reviewing the Hard Problem of Consciousness by factoring in neuro-phenomenological findings, the other paper assesses the tenability of the Feeling Theory of Emotions. Her most recent publication critically examines the prospects of the Cognitive Theory of Emotions. Along with these her essay exploring Dialogue as a Relation between Self and Another was selected among the best five entries, by the Barefoot Philosopher’s forum, that were awarded an honorarium and published on their online philosophy platform. She has also delivered talks, lectures and presentations pertaining to her work on emotions at various conferences, seminars, and academic platforms.
She has been a regular contributor for the Philosophy Programme of IGNOU, where she has contributed three units towards the Self Learning Material published by the University: Reproductive Rights, Appearance and Reality, and Introduction to Philosophy. As part of the SWAYAM MOOC courses run from IGNOU, she has also contributed recorded lectures on various topics in ETHICS.
During her academic journey Dr Uppal has received several awards as a graduate and post graduate student, together with research fellowships such as the UGC JRF, and ICSSR Post doctoral Fellowship.