Continuing our discussion of Owen Flanagan's The Bodhisattva's Brain: Buddhism Naturalized (2011). Are the basic tenets of Buddhism compatible with a respect for science? In episode 53, Owen Flanagan outlined a science-friendly project of comparative ethics, and touched on Buddhism's empiricist theory of knowledge and its metaphysics of impermanence. If that was the lecture, Continue Reading …
Search Results for: buddhism
Ep. 53: Buddhism and Naturalism with Guest Owen Flanagan
Discussing The Bodhisattva's Brain: Buddhism Naturalized (2011) with Owen Flanagan. What philosophical insights can we modern folks with our science and naturalism (i.e. inclination against super-natural explanations) glean from Buddhisim? Flanagan says plenty: Buddhism is founded on common human experience (not faith), and we can profitably put Buddhist ethics in dialogue Continue Reading …
Episode 171: Buddhism vs. Evolution with Guest Robert Wright (Part Two)
Continuing on Why Buddhism Is True. We discuss the "no self" doctrine as articulated in Buddha's so-called Second Discourse, the "Anatta-lakkhana Sutta: The Discourse on the Not-Self Characteristic" and the modularity-of-mind psychological theory that Bob claims supports the Buddhist position. What's the ethical implication of the no-self doctrine, and do we really need Continue Reading …
Episode 171: Buddhism vs. Evolution with Guest Robert Wright (Part One)
Bob joins Mark, Seth, Wes, and Dylan to discuss his new book Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment. Bob is a best-selling author and scholar in the area of evolutionary psychology (as well as a podcaster: check out bloggingheads.tv). His past books like Nonzero and The Moral Animal lay down foundations for talking about the Continue Reading …
What Does Depth Mean in Buddhism?
I'm writing this as an open letter to the DharmaRealm guys, but am hoping to garner some responses to this question from Buddhism fans of various stripes. To say someone is "deep" typically means that the person thinks long and hard about philosophical problems. It's not a term that philosophers themselves tend to use about each other, as the concept seems less substantial the Continue Reading …