Examining the Bodhisattva's Brain: with Christian Coseru, “Buddhism, Comparative Neurophilosophy, and Human Flourishing”; Charles Goodman, “Buddhism, Naturalism, and the Pursuit of Happiness”; Bronwyn Finnigan, “Examining the Bodhisattva's Brain”; and Owen Flanagan, “Buddhism and the Scientific Image: Reply to Critics.”

Owen Flanagan's The Bodhisattva's Brain aims to introduce secular-minded thinkers to Buddhist thought and motivate its acceptance by analytic philosophers. I argue that Flanagan provides a compelling caution against the hasty generalizations of recent “science of happiness” literature, whi...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Zygon
Main Author: Finnigan, Bronwyn (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Wiley-Blackwell 2014
In: Zygon
Further subjects:B Ethics
B Neuroscience
B Eudaimonism
B Buddhism
B Naturalism
B Owen Flanagan
B Reductionism
B Virtue Ethics
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Owen Flanagan's The Bodhisattva's Brain aims to introduce secular-minded thinkers to Buddhist thought and motivate its acceptance by analytic philosophers. I argue that Flanagan provides a compelling caution against the hasty generalizations of recent “science of happiness” literature, which correlates happiness with Buddhism on the basis of certain neurological studies. I contend, however, that his positive account of Buddhist ethics is less persuasive. I question the level of engagement with Buddhist philosophical literature and challenge Flanagan's central claim, that a Buddhist version of eudaimonia is a common core conception shared by all Buddhists. I argue that this view is not only a rational reconstruction in need of argumentation but is in tension with competing Buddhist metaphysical theories of self, including the one Flanagan himself endorses.
ISSN:1467-9744
Contains:Enthalten in: Zygon
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1111/zygo.12078