Sila/ethics

What did the Buddha have to say about living sustainably? We'll look to the early suttas for some clues and some inspiration we can take for living better lives today.

If AI might or might not be sentient, how should we treat it? In this companion video to "AI and the Vagueness of Sentience," I propose "strategic compassion": treating AI systems with kindness and moral consideration regardless of…

What is the absolute minimum a human being needs, not just to survive, but to flourish? We often argue about "safety nets" as if they are a modern political invention. But 2,500 years ago, the Buddha established a specific list of…

The Buddha had a surprising approach to regret, and to how it fits into our practice. We'll discuss regret and the benefits of ethical reflection on our actions in early Buddhism, as well as how we can deal skillfully with making mistakes.

Nonviolence was a core ethical principle for the Buddha, playing a key role in the Eightfold Path. But it was not to be confused with passivity nor inaction. We will consider various ways the Buddha's nonviolent approach to difficulty and…

Central ethical principles in Buddhism involve various prohibitions, things we aren't supposed to do. But do we also have positive duties to act in Buddhism? We'll consider various examples from the early suttas.

The Golden Rule plays a key role in early Buddhist ethics. I'll show where we find it, as well as how the Buddha seems to have derived it from a principle of psychology. I'll also consider the question of why the rule is expressed…

Early Buddhism was an ethical system first and foremost. But what was it? What ethical system did the Buddha propose? We will look at the ethics of early Buddhism with a focus on his advice to a general lay audience as well as the role of…

Can Buddhist dharma help align AI values with our own? I'll explain how Buddhism provides a model of ethical wisdom training, and why knowledge of it might be helpful to AI researchers.

A little comparison today: we'll look at two philosophers from the European tradition, Epicurus and JS Mill, and their idea that ethics and the good life stemmed from a life of maximal pleasure and minimal pain. We'll also compare these…

Many people are attracted to Buddhism because it seems not to involve such notions as sin. I'll look at what sin means in the Western tradition, with an excursion into the first few Biblical Commandments. Then I'll turn to Buddhism and…

We live in an age of vast technological change, much of it for the good. However this change brings along great dangers. We will look at some of those dangers, consider ways to frame them appropriately, and then turn to solutions. We will…

For the Buddha good intentions play a key role in the ethical value of our actions. But isn't the road to hell paved with good intentions? We'll look at the Buddha's ethical system and some concerns about the role of intentions.

How should we go about constructing a daily practice? We will look at several aspects that could go into it, including ethics, meditation, and wisdom infused by regular reflection and sutta readings.

Many of us feel that being authentic is a life goal. We will look at that claim, and with the help of a recent article, compare the goal of authenticity with another more plainly ethical goal. We will ask if there may be a potential…

We'll look at ethical dilemmas and their role in western systems of ethics, then turn to Buddhism and ask whether such dilemmas play any role at all. Then we'll turn to some classic dilemmas and ask how they might be treated in an early…

Does kindness require emotional attachment and identification with one another? Several prominent ethical systems promote the idea that our altruistic tendencies are based on emotional closeness and familiarity. We'll look at a few of…

My good friend Justin Whitaker and I have a paper in the recently published Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Ethics. I'll discuss some aspects of our paper, how it relates to Buddhist ethics, and some other interesting points before getting to…

Mindfulness of mind is the third of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. We will look at its importance to ethical thought and action, as well as to locating ourselves along the path. There are lots of important lessons to gain from this…

The Buddha's discourse to the Kālāmas outlines a charter of free inquiry. It strikes us today as expressing a very modern approach to the world. We'll look at how that is, and its down-to-earth take on ethics and knowledge.

Two emotional states play a key ethical role in early Buddhism. We'll look at these states that the Buddha called "the guardians of the world", and discuss how awareness of them can help our practice and our life.

Is the Dalai Lama a secular Buddhist? In two of his recent books he has outlined a universal, secular ethical program grounded in basic human values that are shared by believers and nonbelievers alike. We will take a look at these two…

The five precepts are the basis of Buddhist ethics, particularly as practiced in a lay context. What are the precepts, how should we think of them, and how should we use them as practice?