John Vattanky SJ (3 July 1931- 22 February 2021) was a Jesuit priest, belonging to Kerala province, in India.
An Indian philosopher, specializing in Gangesa's Navya-Nyāya, he resided at De Nobili College, Pune.
His major book, Gangesa's Philosophy of God was published in 1984 by the Adyar Research Library, Madras and has won the admiration of scholars as well as the award of all India Philosophical Association.
In the same year he also organized a national seminar on Indian Philosophy of Language at Pune and presented a paper on 'Indian Hermeneutics'.
In the same year he lectured at the Shimla Institute of Advanced Study on 'Nyaya System of Philosophy an Important Aspect of Indian Culture'.
Further, in the same year he participated in the International Philosophy Conference at Istanbul, Turkey and presented a paper on "Nyaya and Buddhist Logic'.
Further in the same year he presided at the inaugural session of a seminar organized by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, Imphal, Manipur and afterwards presented a paper on 'Word and Meaning'; he was also a visiting Scholar at Campion Hall, University of Oxford.
In 2006 he participated in the International Conference at Bialowieza, near Warsaw, Poland and presented a paper on 'Theism, the Culmination of Nyaya Logic'; in the same year he was also a visiting Scholar at Campion Hall, Oxford.
In 2008, he presented a paper on 'Ephrem and Sankara; a Dialogue Between Two Creative Thinkers' at an International conference in Granada, Spain.
In 2010, he participated in the International Conference on Syriac Theology at SEERI, Kottayam, and presented a paper on 'Understanding Christian Eschatology Against the Background of the Thought of Ephrem and Sankara'.
Professor Vattanky was one of the much sought after resource persons in refresher courses for University lecturers from all parts of India.
[5] The wider implications of the explanations and argumentations developed in this text began to dawn upon him quietly and consistently.
An adequate answer to this question lies in the concept of knowledge of the different systems leading to different kinds of understanding of human beings themselves.
In order to grasp this and to develop his original view of it, the Advaita Vedanta of Sankara especially as interpreted by the late Richard De Smet has been very helpful to him.
De Smet rejects the all too common acosmic interpretation of Sankara and asserts that the true nature of the Supreme Brahman as person, ultimate cause, capable of love and grace.
This Brahman or God can be described in many ways, but chiefly in the negative, the superlative, the world-relational, the ego-relational and the essential manner.
Asserting absolute transcendence of God, saving our mind from all temptations of pantheism, this description leads us to apophatic theology.
And God being the innermost self of man, the former imparts his luster to the individual even to his body and organs especially the intellect.
The Supreme reality is communicated to us in the universe which is a vast assembly of symbols singing the goodness of God and this is his philosophy.
A Festschrift, Logic and Love: Reflecting on Professor John Vattanky's Contribution to Indian Philosophy and Spirituality, was brought in his honour in 2019.
[9] He served as Founder/Director, Centre for Advanced Indian Studies, which was earlier located at De Nobili College, Pune, India.
In June 2013, From De Nobili College (Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth), Pune, he moved to Kanjirapally, Kerala.
After suffering illnesses for more than six years, he had a stroke on 30 December 2014 and was recuperating at Christ Hall, Kozhikode, Kerala.