Buddhist Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration
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Buddhist Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration
Book
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Description
This volume is one of a series of monographs on Buddhist philosophy for philosophers. It presents an outline of Buddhist ethical thought, presenting Buddhist ethical reflection as a distinct approach, or rather set of approaches, to moral philosophy. The book draws on a range of Buddhist philosophers to exhibit the internal diversity of the tradition as well as the lineaments that demonstrate its overarching integrity. This includes early Pāli texts, medieval Indian commentarial literature and philosophical treatises, Tibetan commentaries and treatises, and contemporary Buddhist literature. It argues that Buddhist ethics is best understood not as a species of any Western ethical tradition, but instead as a kind of moral phenomenology, and that it is particularist in its orientation. The book addresses both methodological and doctrinal issues and concludes with a study of the way that Buddhist ethical thought is relevant in the contemporary world. (Source: Oxford University Press)
Citation
Garfield, Jay L. Buddhist Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration. Buddhist Philosophy for Philosophers. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022.
Publisher Link
Table of contents
- Prefaceix
- Part I: Structure
- 1. Methodological Introduction3
- 2. The Broad Structure of Buddhist Ethics18
- 3. Buddhist Ethics as Moral Phenomenology29
- 4. Agency and Moral Psychology43
- 5. Narrative in Buddhist Ethics53
- Part II: Doctrine
- 6. The Four Noble Truths71
- 7. Path as a Structure for Buddhist Ethics90
- 8. The Six Perfections in the Mahāyāna109
- 9. The Brahmavihāras and the Achievement of Nonegocentricity131
- 10. The Importance of Vow152
- Part III: Contemporary Issues
- 11. Naturalism169
- 12. Engaged Buddhism180
- 13. Coda: What Buddhist Ethics Brings to the Table199
- References203
- Index215
Interconnections
1 Teachings
Shantideva's masterful Bodhicaryāvatāra sparkles with insights for personal growth and for a stronger social contract. Professor Jay Garfield interprets Shantideva's work to build a guide to Buddhist ethics and to suggest ways to conquer our own psychopathologies.
Buddhist ethics doesn't begin with action but how we see others and the world. Bodhisattvas cultivate an attitude of universal care. As engaged Buddhists, we need this clarity of ethical perspective to help us confront social problems and the ethical implications of new technology. Professor Garfield draws from his recent book How to Be Caring: An Ancient Guide to a Compassionate Life, and from his earlier work, Buddhist Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration.
1 Scholarship on
An "Introduction to Bodhisattva Practice," the Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra is a poem about the path of a bodhisattva, in ten chapters, written by the Indian Buddhist Śāntideva (fl. c. 685–763). One of the masterpieces of world literature, it is a core text of Mahāyāna Buddhism and continues to be taught, studied, and commented upon in many languages and by many traditions around the world. The main subject of the text is bodhicitta, the altruistic aspiration for enlightenment, and the path and practices of the bodhisattva, the six perfections (pāramitās). The text forms the basis of many contemporary discussions of Buddhist ethics and philosophy.
