Book excerpt: The Disinterested Witness is a detailed, contextual, and interpretive study of the concept of saksin (or that which directly or immediately perceives) in Advaita Vedanta, and a fascinating and significant comparison of the philosophies of the East and West. Addressing a wide range of epistemological dilemmas, as well as perceived commonalities and differences between Eastern and Western philosophy, it is a major contribution to comparative philosophy and forms a vantage point for cross-cultural comparison.