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This volume offers a rich and accessible introduction to contemporary research on Buddhist ethical thought. It includes contributions of many of the leading scholars in this field, on topics including the nature of Buddhist ethics, karma and rebirth, mindfulness, narrative, intention, free will, politics, anger, and equanimity.
About the author
Jake H. Davis is a Postdoctoral Associate at New York University with the Virtues of Attention project. He has taught at Brown University and at the City of College of New York. He has authored and co-authored articles at the intersection of Buddhist philosophy, moral philosophy, and cognitive science, drawing on his textual, meditative, and monastic training in the Theravada Buddhist tradition of Burma (Myanmar).
Summary
This volume offers a rich and accessible introduction to contemporary research on Buddhist ethical thought. It includes contributions of many of the leading scholars in this field, on topics including the nature of Buddhist ethics, karma and rebirth, mindfulness, narrative, intention, free will, politics, anger, and equanimity.
Additional text
The paradox of Buddhist ethics, as any philosophical paradox, can humble people in their dangerous religious certainties and start them wondering afresh about the best way to live their lives during troubling times. Buddhist practitioners are also credited to provide strong exemplars in the world of people who practice what they preach (or rather, decline to preach) and who strive for modest, morally exemplary lives, grounded in kindness. After all, if there is no self, what point exists in acting self-servingly? For these reasons alone, Buddhist ethics constitutes a worthy contemplation. Thanks for this new volume that rethinks how that paradox arises and how it may be resolved, for that inquiry itself constitutes good works.
