Juan Arnau (

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, April 28, 1968),

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

, a specialist in

Eastern philosophies Eastern philosophy (also called Asian philosophy or Oriental philosophy) includes the various philosophies that originated in East and South Asia, including Chinese philosophy, Japanese philosophy, Korean philosophy, and Vietnamese philoso ...

and

religions Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, t ...

Biography

After a few years working as a sailor and several trips to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, Juan Arnau studied

Astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...

at the

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

, where he graduated in 1994. He traveled to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1995, with a fellowship from the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (AECI) and at the University of Varanasi (Banaras Hindu University, BHU), where he began his studies of Indian philosophy and culture with Catalan Sanskritist Oscar Pujol. From India he went to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, where he did his PhD at the Centre for Asian and African Studies at

El Colegio de México El Colegio de México, A.C. (commonly known as Colmex, English: The College of Mexico) is a Mexican institute of higher education, specializing in teaching and research in social sciences and humanities. The college was founded in 1940 by the Me ...

, studying

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

with Rashik Vihari Joshi. After completing his PhD he moved to

Ann Arbor Ann Arbor is a city in Washtenaw County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851, making it the List of municipalities in Michigan, fifth-most populous cit ...

(

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

) for six years, where he did postdoctoral research at the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures of the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, with Luis Ó. Gomez. Meanwhile, he taught Spanish, and Latin American Literature and Cinema, in the Department of Romance Languages. Currently a researcher at the Institute of History of Medicine and Science López Piñero ( CSIC-

University of Valencia The University of Valencia ( ), shortened to UV, is a public research university in Valencia, Spain. It is one of the oldest universities in Spain, and the oldest in the Valencian Community. It is regarded as one of Spain's leading academic i ...

) and associate professor at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

Bibliography

Critical editions

Juan Arnau has made the critical editions, translated directly from Sanskrit, from the philosophical treatises of

Nāgārjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahāyāna Buddhist philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosoph ...

, as well as from the ''

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu texts, Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the Hindu epic, epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Ind ...

'' and the ''

Upanishads The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...

'': * ''Fundamentos de la vía media'' (2004). (''Fundamentals of the Middle Way''). Direct translation from Sanskrit. Madrid: Siruela. . * ''Abandono de la discusión'' (2006). (''Leaving discussion''). Direct translation from Sanskrit. Madrid: Siruela. . * ''Bhagavadgītā'' (2016). Atalanta. . * ''Upaniṣad. Correspondencias ocultas'' (2019). Atalanta. . * ''Diálogo del diamante seguido del diálogo del corazón'' (2023). Atalanta. . He has also translated: * Henryk Skolimowski, ''La mente participativa. Una nueva teoría del universo y del conocimiento'' (2016). Atalanta. . He has recovered the work of Vicente Fatone: * Fatone, Vicente (2025). ''La fábula mística. Textos esenciales''. Edited with an introduction and selection of texts by Juan Arnau, hardcover. Santander Foundation. .

Philosophical fictions

* ''El cristal Spinoza'' (2012). (''The Crystal Spinoza''). Pre-Textos. . * ''El efecto Berkeley'' (2015). Valencia: Pre-Textos. . * ''El sueño de Leibniz'' (2019). Valencia: Pre-Textos. .

Essays

* ''El Mulamadhyamakakarikah de Nagarjuna: la vacuidad como medio hábil'' (2002). Tesis doctoral. Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios de Asia y África. * ''Actualidad del pensamiento de Nagarjuna'' (2005). Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios de Asia y África. * ''La palabra frente al vacío. Filosofía de Nagarjuna'' (2005). (''Language against Emptiness. Philosophy of Nagarjuna''). México D.F.: Fondo de Cultura Económica. . * ''Antropología del budismo'' (2007). (''Anthropology of Buddhism''). Barcelona: Kairós. . * ''Arte de probar. Ironía y lógica en India antigua'' (2008). (''Art of proving. Irony and logic in ancient India''). Madrid: Fondo de Cultura Económica. . * ''Rendir el sentido. Filosofía y traducción'' (2008). (''Rendering sense. Philosophy and translation''). Valencia: Pre-Textos. . * ''Elogio del asombro. Conversaciones con Agustín Andreu'' (2010). (''Praise of amazement. Conversations with Agustin Andreu''). Valencia: Pre-Textos. . * ''Vasubandhu / Berkeley'' (2011). With Carlos Mellizo. Valencia: Pre-Textos. . * ''Leyenda de Buda'' (2011). (''Legend of the Buddha''). Alianza. . * ''Cosmologías de India. Védica, samkhya y budista'' (2012). (''Cosmologies of India. Vedic Samkhya and Buddhist''). Fondo de Cultura Económica. . * ''La medicina india. Según las fuentes del Ayurveda'' (2013). Kairós. . * ''Manual de filosofía portátil'' (2014). Atalanta. . * ''La invención de la libertad'' (2016). Atalanta. . * ''Budismo esencial'' (2017). Alianza. . * ''La fuga de Dios'' (2017). Atalanta. . * ''Historia de la imaginación. Del antiguo Egipto al sueño de la Ciencia'' (2020). Espasa. . * ''La mente diáfana. Historia del pensamiento indio'' (2021). Galaxia Gutenberg. . * ''Rousseau o la hierba doncella'' (2022). Alianza Editorial. . * ''En la mente del mundo. La aventura del deseo y la percepción'' (2022). Galaxia Gutenberg. . * ''Materia que respira luz. Ensayo de filosofía cuántica'' (2023). Editorial Galaxia Gutenberg. * ''Buda'' (2024). Editorial Galaxia Gutenberg. * ''La meditación soleada. Propuestas para una cultura mental'' (2024). Editorial Galaxia Gutenberg. * ''Ortega contra el racionalismo'' (2025). Espasa.

Awards

* XXXIV Premio de la Crítica Literaria Valenciana for his work ''Manual de filosofía portátil'' (Ediciones Atalanta, 2014).

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnau, Juan Spanish male writers Writers from the Valencian Community 1968 births Living people Complutense University of Madrid alumni 21st-century Spanish philosophers 20th-century Spanish philosophers University of Michigan fellows Spanish male essayists 21st-century Spanish essayists 21st-century Spanish male writers