Roy Tzohar specializes in the history of philosophy with a focus on Buddhist and Brahmanical philosophical traditions in India. He is a currently an associate professor in the East and South Asian Studies Department at Tel Aviv University.
He holds a Ph.D. (with distinction) from the Religion Department at Columbia University (New York, 2011), and an M.A. in philosophy (summa cum laude) from Tel Aviv University’s Interdisciplinary Program for Outstanding Students (Tel Aviv, 2004).
His past project, dealing with Buddhist notions of intersubjectivity, was a recipient of the Marie Curie Grant from the European Union CORDIS.
His monograph, A Buddhist Yogācāra Theory of Metaphor (Oxford University Press, 2018), winner of the Toshihide Numata Award 2018, deals with Indian philosophy of language and the Yogācāra philosophy of language and experience in particular. Most recently, he has co-edited with Maria Heim and Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Emotions in Classical Indian Philosophy (Bloomsbury Academics, 2021).
Current research interests include Buddhist notions of nonconcpetuality and action, and the role and meaning of Buddhist poetic literature. He is currently working on a book manuscript on the works of Buddhist poet and philosopher Aśvaghoṣa under a four year grant form the Israeli Science Foundation (ISF).
Roy Tzohar is the recipient of Tel Aviv University’s Kadar Award for Outstanding Research 2022.