Buddhist Ethics: A Very Short Introduction
Buddhist Ethics: A Very Short Introduction
Very Short Introductions are for anyone wanting a stimulatingand accessible way in to a new subject. They are written by experts, and havebeen published in more than 25 languages worldwide.The series began in 1995, and now represents a wide variety of topicsin history, philosophy, religion, science, and the humanities. Over the nextfew years it will grow to a library of around 200 volumes – a Very ShortIntroduction to everything from ancient Egypt and Indian philosophy toconceptual art and cosmology.Very Short Introductions available now:ANARCHISM Colin WardANCIENT EGYPT Ian ShawANCIENT PHILOSOPHYJulia AnnasANCIENT WARFAREHarry SidebottomTHE ANGLO-SAXON AGEJohn BlairANIMAL RIGHTSDavid DeGraziaARCHAEOLOGY Paul BahnARCHITECTUREAndrew BallantyneARISTOTLE Jonathan BarnesART HISTORY Dana ArnoldART THEORY Cynthia FreelandTHE HISTORY OFASTRONOMY Michael HoskinAtheism Julian BagginiAugustine Henry ChadwickBARTHES Jonathan CullerTHE BIBLE John RichesBRITISH POLITICSAnthony WrightBuddha Michael CarrithersBUDDHISM Damien KeownBUDDHIST ETHICS Damien KeownCAPITALISM James FulcherTHE CELTS Barry CunliffeCHOICE THEORYMichael AllinghamCHRISTIAN ART Beth WilliamsonCHRISTIANITY Linda WoodheadCLASSICS Mary Beard andJohn HendersonCLAUSEWITZ Michael HowardTHE COLD WAR Robert McMahonCONSCIOUSNESS Susan BlackmoreContinental PhilosophySimon CritchleyCOSMOLOGY Peter ColesCRYPTOGRAPHYFred Piper and Sean MurphyDADA AND SURREALISMDavid HopkinsDarwin Jonathan HowardDemocracy Bernard CrickDESCARTES Tom SorellDESIGN John HeskettDINOSAURS David NormanDREAMING J. Allan HobsonDRUGS Leslie IversenTHE EARTH Martin RedfernEGYPTIAN MYTHGeraldine PinchEIGHTEENTH-CENTURYBRITAIN Paul LangfordTHE ELEMENTS Philip BallEMOTION Dylan EvansEMPIRE Stephen HoweENGELS Terrell CarverEthics Simon Blackburn
The European UnionJohn PinderEVOLUTIONBrian and Deborah CharlesworthFASCISM Kevin PassmoreFOUCAULT Gary GuttingTHE FRENCH REVOLUTIONWilliam DoyleFREE WILL Thomas PinkFreud Anthony StorrGalileo Stillman DrakeGandhi Bhikhu ParekhGLOBALIZATION Manfred StegerGLOBAL WARMING Mark MaslinHABERMASJames Gordon FinlaysonHEGEL Peter SingerHEIDEGGER Michael InwoodHIEROGLYPHS Penelope WilsonHINDUISM Kim KnottHISTORY John H. ArnoldHOBBES Richard TuckHUME A. J. AyerIDEOLOGY Michael FreedenIndian PhilosophySue HamiltonIntelligence Ian J. DearyISLAM Malise RuthvenJUDAISM Norman SolomonJung Anthony StevensKAFKA Ritchie RobertsonKANT Roger ScrutonKIERKEGAARD Patrick GardinerTHE KORAN Michael CookLINGUISTICS Peter MatthewsLITERARY THEORYJonathan CullerLOCKE John DunnLOGIC Graham PriestMACHIAVELLI Quentin SkinnerMARX Peter SingerMATHEMATICS Timothy GowersMEDICAL ETHICS Tony HopeMEDIEVAL BRITAINJohn Gillingham and Ralph A.GriffithsMODERN ART David CottingtonMODERN IRELAND Senia PašetaMOLECULES Philip BallMUSIC Nicholas CookMyth Robert A. SegalNIETZSCHE Michael TannerNINETEENTH-CENTURYBRITAIN Christopher Harvie andH. C. G. MatthewNORTHERN IRELANDMarc MulhollandPARTICLE PHYSICS Frank Closepaul E. P. SandersPhilosophy Edward CraigPHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCESamir OkashaPLATO Julia AnnasPOLITICS Kenneth MinoguePOLITICAL PHILOSOPHYDavid MillerPOSTCOLONIALISMRobert YoungPOSTMODERNISMChristopher ButlerPOSTSTRUCTURALISMCatherine BelseyPREHISTORY Chris GosdenPRESOCRATIC PHILOSOPHYCatherine OsbornePsychology Gillian Butler andFreda McManusQUANTUM THEORYJohn PolkinghorneRENAISSANCE ARTGeraldine A. JohnsonROMAN BRITAIN Peter SalwayROUSSEAU Robert WoklerRUSSELL A. C. GraylingRUSSIAN LITERATURECatriona Kelly
THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTIONS. A. SmithSCHIZOPHRENIAChris Frith and Eve JohnstoneSCHOPENHAUERChristopher JanawaySHAKESPEARE Germaine GreerSOCIAL AND CULTURALANTHROPOLOGYJohn Monaghan and Peter JustSOCIOLOGY Steve BruceSocrates C. C. W. TaylorTHE SPANISH CIVIL WARHelen GrahamSPINOZA Roger ScrutonSTUART BRITAIN John MorrillTERRORISMCharles TownshendTHEOLOGY David F. FordTHE TUDORS John GuyTWENTIETH-CENTURYBRITAIN Kenneth O. MorganWittgenstein A. C. GraylingWORLD MUSIC Philip BohlmanAvailable soon:AFRICAN HISTORYJohn Parker andRichard RathboneTHE BRAIN Michael O’SheaCHAOS Leonard SmithCITIZENSHIP Richard BellamyCLASSICAL ARCHITECTURERobert TavernorCONTEMPORARY ARTJulian StallabrassTHE CRUSADESChristopher TyermanTHE DEAD SEA SCROLLSTimothy LimDerrida Simon GlendinningECONOMICS Partha DasguptaTHE END OF THE WORLDBill McGuireELEMENTS Philip BallEXISTENTIALISM Thomas FlynnFEMINISM Margaret WaltersTHE FIRST WORLD WARMichael HowardFOSSILS Keith ThomsonFUNDAMENTALISMMalise RuthvenHUMAN EVOLUTIONBernard WoodINTERNATIONAL RELATIONSPaul WilkinsonJAZZ Brian MortonJOURNALISM Ian HargreavesMANDELA Tom LodgeTHE MARQUIS DE SADEJohn PhillipsTHE MIND Martin DaviesNATIONALISM Steven GrosbyPERCEPTION Richard GregoryPHILOSOPHY OF RELIGIONJack Copeland and Diane ProudfootPHOTOGRAPHY Steve EdwardsRACISM Ali RattansiTHE RAJ Denis JuddTHE RENAISSANCE Jerry BrottonROMAN EMPIREChristopher KellySARTRE Christina HowellsSIKHISM Eleanor NesbittSOCIALISM Michael NewmanA HISTORY OF TIMELeofranc Holford-StrevensTRAGEDY Adrian PooleTHE VIKINGS Julian RichardsTHE WORLD TRADEORGANIZATIONAmrita NarlikarFor more information visit our web sitewww.oup.co.uk/vsi/
Damien KeownBuddhistEthicsA Very Short Introduction1
3Great Clarendon Street, Oxford o x 2 6 d pOxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford.It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship,and education by publishing worldwide inOxford New YorkAuckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong KarachiKuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City NairobiNew Delhi Shanghai Taipei TorontoWith offices inArgentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France GreeceGuatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal SingaporeSouth Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine VietnamOxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University Pressin the UK and in certain other countriesPublished in the United Statesby Oxford University Press Inc., New York Damien Keown 2005The moral rights of the author have been assertedDatabase right Oxford University Press (maker)First published as a Very Short Introduction 2005All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press,or as expressly permitted by law, or under terms agreed with the appropriatereprographics rights organizations. Enquiries concerning reproductionoutside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department,Oxford University Press, at the address aboveYou must not circulate this book in any other binding or coverand you must impose this same condition on any acquirerBritish Library Cataloguing in Publication DataData availableLibrary of Congress Cataloging in Publication DataData availableISBN 0–19–280457–X1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2Typeset by RefineCatch Ltd, Bungay, SuffolkPrinted in Great Britain byTJ International Ltd., Padstow, Cornwall
ContentsPrefaceixAcknowledgements xiiiNote on citations and pronunciation xvList of illustrations12345678xviiBuddhist morality 3Ethics East and West 21Animals and the environment 39Sexuality 53War and terrorism 69Abortion84Suicide and euthanasiaCloning116References133Further reading 136GlossaryIndex141143100
This page intentionally left blank
PrefaceThis book is written for a broad general readership. It is for Buddhistsinterested in ethical questions, for ethicists interested in Buddhism,for school or university students exploring the ethics of Buddhism –perhaps in conjunction with other world religions – and for the generalreader who is simply curious about whether an Eastern tradition such asBuddhism can shed any light on problems that the West has founddifficult and divisive.The book offers an overview of how Buddhism might respond to theethical dilemmas confronting the modern world. It discusses sixcontemporary issues: animals and the environment, sexuality, warand terrorism, abortion, suicide and euthanasia, and cloning. As apreliminary to addressing these topics, the first chapter explains thebasic moral teachings of Buddhism and the second considers theoreticalquestions about the nature of these teachings in relation to Westernethics. Since Buddhist ethics is an unfamiliar subject in the West,a strategy adopted in some chapters is to take the more familiarChristian perspective on the issues as a point of departure. This allowscomparisons and contrasts to be drawn with Buddhism, and hopefullywill accelerate the reader’s grasp of what is distinctive in the Buddhistapproach.As its name implies, the discipline of Buddhist ethics emerges from theinterface between two complex and largely independent fields of
knowledge – Buddhism and ethics. Separate introductions to both ofthese disciplines are available in the present series, and this short workmakes no attempt to replace them. Instead, its aim is to focus on thepoint where these subjects intersect to form a new field of enquiry, onethat has so far received very little attention from experts in either of itscomponent disciplines.A basic knowledge of Buddhism is assumed in the pages that follow, andreaders who lack this are advised to consult first my companion volumein the series Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction. Some materialrelating to ethics there has been adapted for use here, notably theexplanation of karma in Chapter 1, but the discussion of basic doctrinessuch as the Four Noble Truths has not been repeated. The ‘Buddhism’discussed in the present work is not that of any one school, culture, orhistorical period, and, although my own expertise is in TheravādaBuddhism, my remarks are made with respect to an amorphous fictionwhich for convenience might be termed ‘mainstream Buddhism’. Whatis meant by this is explained further in Chapter 2. While endeavouringto represent the views of the mainstream, however, this work has nopretensions to being authoritative or definitive. It scarcely needs sayingthat the issues explored here are controversial, and while some readersmay find that the approach taken is congenial to their own reading ofBuddhism, others will no doubt disagree, perhaps strongly, with theconclusions reached. Disagreements on ethical matters are almostinevitable given the nature of the subject matter, but hopefully evenreaders who disagree will feel better informed about alternativeperspectives. Overall, I have tried to adopt the role of sympatheticcritic, identifying what I see as both the strengths and weaknessesof the Buddhist perspective in the hope of generating a productivedialogue.The task of writing this short book has been greatly assisted bythe publication of Peter Harvey’s longer introductory work AnIntroduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Issues(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000). This excellenttextbook contextualizes the issues with more historical, cultural,
and textual detail than can be included in the present volume, and isrecommended to readers who wish to pursue the subject at greaterlength. The Further reading section at the end of this volume containsadditional guidance on sources relating to the particular topicsdiscussed herein.
This page intentionally left blank
AcknowledgementsThis book is based on a course taught at Goldsmiths College, London,and I am grateful to present and past students for their interest in thesubject and their questions and comments over the years. I am gratefulto Goldsmiths College and to the Arts and Humanities Research Boardfor funding sabbatical leave to allow me to complete the book during theacademic year 2003–4, and to the publishers for permission to reusesome material mainly from Chapters 2 and 8 of my companion volumein the series, Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction. I am also indebtedto my former student Pragati Sahni for her assistance with Chapter 3.Finally, I would like to thank George Miller for inaugurating this projectduring his time with the Press, and Emma Simmons and Marsha Filionfor seeing the volume through to publication.
This page intentionally left blank
Note on citationsand pronunciationFrom time to time, the reader will encounter references in the formD.ii.95. These are references to Buddhist scriptures, specifically the PāliText Society editions of the Theravāda Buddhist canon. The key to thereference is as follows. The initial letter refers to one of the five divisions(nikāyas) into which the Buddha’s discourses (suttas) are collated.DMASKDı̄gha NikāyaMajjhima NikāyaAṅguttara NikāyaSamyutta Nikāya Khuddaka NikāyaThe Roman numeral (ii) denotes the volume number, and the Arabicnumeral (95) denotes the page number. Thus the reference D.ii.95 is tovolume two, page 95, of the Dı̄gha Nikāya.A small number of references with the prefix Vin will also beencountered. These refer to a division of the Pāli canon known as theVinaya, which contains material relating to monastic law. Independenttexts from the Khuddaka Nikāya, such as the Sutta Nipāta, also havetheir own abbreviations (in this case Sn). A capital letter A after any ofthe above abbreviations (such as DA) means the reference is to thecommentary (atthakathā) on the text in question. Translations of the entire Pāli canon into English have been published by the
Pāli Text Society (http://www.palitext.demon.co.uk/) and morerecent translations are available from Wisdom Publications(http://www.wisdompubs.org). Translations of other texts cited arementioned in Further Reading.Language and pronunciationBuddhist texts were composed in and translated into many languages,including Pāli, Sanskrit, Tibetan, Thai, Burmese, Chinese, Japanese,and Korean. The convention followed here is to cite Buddhist technicalterms in their Sanskrit forms except when the discussion refers to Pālisources at which time Pāli forms are used. Transliteration fromlanguages such as Sanskrit and Pāli requires the use of diacritics. Thisis because the 26 letters of the English alphabet are insufficient torepresent the larger number of characters in Asian languages. Ahorizontal line (macron) above a vowel lengthens it, such that thecharacter ‘a’ is pronounced as in ‘far’ rather than ‘fat’. For the most part,the other marks do not affect pronunciation sufficiently to be of anyconcern, with the following exceptions:c pronounced ‘ch’ as in ‘choose’s or ś pronounced ‘sh’ as in ‘shoes’ ñ pronounced ‘ny’ as in Spanish ‘mañana’A dot beneath a consonant (t, d, etc.) indicates that the tongue touches the roof of the mouth when pronouncing these letters, to give thecharacteristic sound of English when spoken with an Indian accent.
List of illustrations1Map of Buddhismin Asia2 The BodhisattvaAvalokiteśvara, theembodiment ofcompassion7 Jizō Bosatsu216Courtesy of John Powers3 Thich Nhat Hanh,19668 Mizuko Jizō memorialat Raikoji (Kamakura,Japan)97Mark Schumacher’sBuddhist Corner atonmarkproductions.com34 2005 TopFoto.co.uk4 The wheel of life94Musée des Arts AsiatiquesGuimet, Paris. Photo RMN/P. Bernard459 Suicide of Buddhistmonk Thich QuangDuc in Saigon, 1963101 2005 TopFoto.co.uk5 The fourteenth DalaiLama of Tibet63 Martin Louis6 Ven. NichidatsuFujii Kunihiko Seto10Reproductive cloning 11911Baby clones126 Ariel Camilo7612Cloned Buddhas126 PhotoDisc/Getty ImagesThe publisher and the author apologize for any errors or omissionsin the above list. If contacted they will be pleased to rectify these atthe earliest opportunity.
1. Buddhism in Asia
Chapter 1Buddhist moralityMorality is woven into the fabric of Buddhist teachings and there isno major branch or school of Buddhism that fails to emphasize theimportance of the moral life. The scriptures of Buddhism in everylanguage speak eloquently of virtues such as non-violence andcompassion, and the Buddhist version of the ‘Golden Rule’ counselsus not to do anything to others we would not like done to ourselves.Although newcomers to Buddhism are often struck by the variety ofthe different Asian traditions, as divergent in form as Zen andTibetan Buddhism, at the level of moral teachings there is muchcommon ground. Some might disagree, but my own view is thatwe can speak of a common moral core underlying the divergentcustoms, practices, and philosophical teachings of the differentschools. This core is composed of the principles and precepts, andthe values and virtues expounded by the Buddha in the 5th centurybce and which continue to guide the conduct of some 350 millionBuddhists around the world today. The purpose of this first chapteris to review these basic moral teachings.DharmaThe ultimate foundation for Buddhist ethics is Dharma. Dharmahas many meanings, but the underlying notion is of a universal lawwhich governs both the physical and moral order of the universe.Dharma can best be translated as ‘natural law’, a term that captures
The Four Noble TruthsDuhkha – All existence is suffering. Samudāya – Suffering is caused by craving.Nirodha – Suffering can have an end.Mārga – The way to the end of suffering is the Noble Eight-Buddhist Ethicsfold Path.both its main senses, namely as the principle of order and regularityseen in the behaviour of natural phenomena, and also the idea of auniversal moral law whose requirements have been revealed byenlightened beings such as the Buddha (note that Buddha claimedonly to have discovered Dharma, not to have invented it). Everyaspect of life is regulated by Dharma, from the succession ofthe seasons to the movement of the planets and constellations.Dharma is neither caused by nor under the control of a supremebeing, and the gods themselves are subject to its laws, as was theBuddha. In the moral order, Dharma is manifest in the law ofkarma, which, as we shall see below, governs the way moral deedsaffect individuals in present and future lives. Living in accordancewith Dharma and implementing its requirements is thoughtto lead to happiness, fulfilment, and salvation; neglecting ortransgressing it is said to lead to endless suffering in the cycleof rebirth (samsāra). In his first sermon, the Buddha was said to have ‘turned the wheel ofthe Dharma’ and given doctrinal expression to the truth about howthings are in reality. It was in this discourse that the Buddha set outthe Four Noble Truths, the last of which is the Noble Eightfold Pathwhich leads to nirvana. The Path has three divisions – Morality(śı̄la), Meditation (samādhi), and Insight (prajñā) – from which itcan be seen that morality is an integral component of the path tonirvana.4
The Eightfold Path and its Three Divisions1. Right View2. Right Resolve3. Right Speech4. Right Action5. Right Livelihood6. Right Effort7. Right Mindfulness8. Right Meditation Insight (prajñā) Morality (śı̄la) Meditation (samādhi)Buddhist moralityKarmaThe doctrine of karma is concerned with the ethical implications ofDharma, in particular those relating to the consequences of moralbehaviour. Karma is not a system of rewards and punishmentsmeted out by God but a kind of natural law akin to the law ofgravity. In popular usage in the West, karma is thought of simplyas the good and bad things that happen to a person, a little likegood and bad luck. However, this oversimplifies what for Buddhistsis a complex of interrelated ideas which embraces both ethicsand belief in reincarnation. The literal meaning of the Sanskritword karma is ‘action’, but karma as a religious concept isconcerned not with just any actions but with actions of a particularkind. Karmic actions are moral actions, and the Buddha definedkarma by reference to moral choices and the acts consequentupon them. He stated, ‘It is intention (cetanā), O monks, thatI call karma; having willed one acts through body, speech, ormind’ (A.iii.415).5
Buddhist EthicsMoral actions are unlike other actions in that they have bothtransitive and intransitive effects. The transitive effect is seen in thedirect impact moral actions ha
in history, philosophy, religion, science, and the humanities. Over the next few years it will grow to a library of around 200 volumes – a Very Short Introduction to everything from ancient Egypt and Indian philosophy to conceptual art and cosmology. Very Short Introductions available now
Buddhist tradition. We begin by asking if we can make sense of the term “Buddhist Philosophy” and then turn to Buddhist views of the self, interdependence, ethics, and the philosophical role of meditation. The focus of this course will be on Mahayana Buddhist thought, although we will oc
Buddhist philosophy. He has also published articles on early Buddhist episte-mology, ethics, and social theory, including “A Survey of Early Buddhist Epistemology,” in A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy, edited by Steven M. Emmanuel (Wiley‐Bl
Esoteric Buddhist Art 369 Pure Land Buddhist Art 371 Secular Painting and Calligraphy 373 kamakura period 376 Pure Land Buddhist Art 377 Zen Buddhist Art 381 Boxes Art And its Contexts Writing, Language, and CultureArchitecture 365 Buddhist Symbols 368 Arms and Armor 37
CWB Carl W. Bielefeldt Zen Buddhist DAD David A. Dilworth Modern Academic DAT Dale A. Todaro Buddhist DEL Dennis E. Lishka Zen Buddhist DLG David L. Gardiner Buddhist FG ZenFrédéric Girard Buddhist GB Geoffrey Bownas Twentieth Century GCH G. Cameron Hurst Modern Academic
Sampling for the Ethics in Social Research study The Ethics in Social Research fieldwork 1.3 Structure of the report 2. TALKING ABOUT ETHICS 14 2.1 The approach taken in the study 2.2 Participants' early thoughts about ethics 2.2.1 Initial definitions of ethics 2.2.2 Ethics as applied to research 2.3 Mapping ethics through experiences of .
Buddhist philosophy is enormous and to be quite clear and thorough about it is very difficult, so I would like to share with you the general outline of Buddhist philosophy. Basically you have to look at general Buddhist philosophy in three parts, or three stages. The first
Communicating Buddhist Philosophy in the Suttas 452 Sarah Shaw 30 Compassion and the Ethics of Violence 466 Stephen Jenkins 31 Buddhist Ethics and Western Moral Philosophy 476 William Edelglass F. Social and Political Philosophy 491 32 The Enlightened Sovereign: Buddhis
"usiness ethics" versus "ethics": a false dichotomy "usiness decisions versus ethics" Business ethics frequently frames things out, including ethics Framing everything in terms of the "bottom line" Safety, quality, honesty are outside consideration. There is no time for ethics.
