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Product Description
Product Description
The latter half of the twentieth century witnessed a growing interest in Buddhism, and it continues to capture the imagination of many in the West who see it as either an alternative or a supplement to their own religious beliefs. Numerous introductory books have appeared in recent years to cater for this growing interest, but almost none devotes attention to the specifically ethical dimension of the tradition. For complex cultural and historical reasons, ethics has not received as much attention in traditional Buddhist thought as it has in the West, and publications on the subject are few and far between. Here, Damien Keown, author of Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction , illustrates how Buddhism might approach a range of fascinating moral issues ranging from abortion and suicide to cloning.
About the Author
Damien Keown is Reader in Buddhism at Goldsmiths College, University of London. His entire academic career has been devoted to research in Buddhist ethics, and he has been teaching the subject for over 20 years.
He is also Editor of The Journal of Buddhist Ethics and Coeditor of The Curzon Critical Studies in Buddhism series.
He is also Editor of The Journal of Buddhist Ethics and Coeditor of The Curzon Critical Studies in Buddhism series.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a very useful introductory book for anyone who is interested in Buddhist ethics, its principles and sources, and the answers it gives to some of the most pressing ethical questions of today. The first couple of chapters are dedicated to the historical origins and basic principles of Buddhist ethics. The bulk of the book, however, is aimed at someone who is already familiar with Western ethical traditions, and tries to show how the Buddhist teachings relate to those. In particular, the questions of animal and environmental rights, sexuality, war and terrorism, suicide and euthanasia, and cloning each get a separate chapter. In these chapters the naive impression of Buddhism as a very laid-back and permissive ethical tradition is challenged, and the author shows that the basic answers to those ethical dilemmas in Buddhism are not that far away from similar answers given in theJudeo-Christian ethics.
Overall, this is a very enlightening and informative reading. I highly recommend it.
Overall, this is a very enlightening and informative reading. I highly recommend it.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Keown is without doubt a leading scholar in this area and makes the topic accessible to his readers. He makes very difficult subject matter understandable and interesting. I highly recommend this book and this author.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book 'on spec' and, to begin with, found it a fascinating and thought-provoking read. However, I finished it feeling rather disappointed.
The present book begins with an exploration of some traditional Buddhist concerns and a discussion of the meta-ethics of Buddhist teachings, locating its concerns, with some reservations, in the domain of virtue ethics.
It has an interesting section on the lack of a tradition of formal ethical thinking within Buddhism, although the given explanations relied too much on external factors such as politics. Perhaps more could have been made of the absolute - and therefore perhaps unspoken - centrality of ethics to the Buddhist way of life?
In the next chapters I began to feel a little worn down. The author takes a topical theme in each chapter and presents a potential Buddhist approach to each subject. This whistlestop tour to modern morality takes in abortion, cloning, ecology, sexuality and war and terrorism.
These are weighty, worthy subjects - and you can't fault the author's sincerity in attempting to shed some light on aspects of great concern in our world.
However, I felt the approach was a little heavy handed and was rather too focused on the metaphysical aspects of Buddhism - in particular, Karma. To my mind the urgent relevance of Buddhism lies in its practical applications.
Karma, rather than being a hard-to-believe doctrine of death and rebirth, should be seen, allied to mindfulness, as a pathway toward enlightenment in the world around us today.
As a result of the over-emphasis on metaphysics the book became laden down with a rather conservative and punitive worldview of right and wrong, not unlike the religiosity of some of our Christian churches.
I also found the book's rather cursory and unrepresentative mention of Zen Buddhism a little perplexing.
The book does have a good discussion of the concept of engaged Buddhism, and it has made me aware of the online Journal of Buddhist Ethics (Keown is the founding editor of the journal).
Overall, the book was interesting but there are better guides available.
The present book begins with an exploration of some traditional Buddhist concerns and a discussion of the meta-ethics of Buddhist teachings, locating its concerns, with some reservations, in the domain of virtue ethics.
It has an interesting section on the lack of a tradition of formal ethical thinking within Buddhism, although the given explanations relied too much on external factors such as politics. Perhaps more could have been made of the absolute - and therefore perhaps unspoken - centrality of ethics to the Buddhist way of life?
In the next chapters I began to feel a little worn down. The author takes a topical theme in each chapter and presents a potential Buddhist approach to each subject. This whistlestop tour to modern morality takes in abortion, cloning, ecology, sexuality and war and terrorism.
These are weighty, worthy subjects - and you can't fault the author's sincerity in attempting to shed some light on aspects of great concern in our world.
However, I felt the approach was a little heavy handed and was rather too focused on the metaphysical aspects of Buddhism - in particular, Karma. To my mind the urgent relevance of Buddhism lies in its practical applications.
Karma, rather than being a hard-to-believe doctrine of death and rebirth, should be seen, allied to mindfulness, as a pathway toward enlightenment in the world around us today.
As a result of the over-emphasis on metaphysics the book became laden down with a rather conservative and punitive worldview of right and wrong, not unlike the religiosity of some of our Christian churches.
I also found the book's rather cursory and unrepresentative mention of Zen Buddhism a little perplexing.
The book does have a good discussion of the concept of engaged Buddhism, and it has made me aware of the online Journal of Buddhist Ethics (Keown is the founding editor of the journal).
Overall, the book was interesting but there are better guides available.
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