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Buddhist Ethics As Moral Phenomenology by Daniel Timothy Aitken Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfi Experience and Morality: Buddhist Ethics as Moral Phenomenology by Daniel Timothy Aitken Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Philosophy University of Tasmania August, 2016 Declaration of Originality This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for a degree' or diploma by the University or any other institution, except by way of background information and duly acknowledged in the thesis, and to the best of the my knowledge and belief no material previously published or written by another person except where due acknowledgement is made in the text of the thesis, nor does the thesis contain any material that infringes copyright 2 Authority of Access This thesis may be made available for loan. Copying and communication of any part of this thesis is prohibited for two years from the date this statement was signed; after that time limited copying and communication is permitted in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. 3 Table of Contents Table of Figures ................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................ iv Chapter One: General Introduction ............................................................................................... 1 1.1 Methodology and Sources ..................................................................................................................... 7 1.1.1 Avoiding Two Methodological Extremes: Globalized Descriptions and Radical Particularism ..................................................................................................................................................................... 9 1.1.2 A Note on the Use of the Term “Moral Phenomenology” ................................................................. 16 1.2 Outline of Chapters ............................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter Two: Buddhist Ethics and Consequentialism ........................................................... 27 2.1 Goodman's Account .............................................................................................................................. 27 2.1.1 Theravāda Ethics and Rule-Consequentialism .................................................................................... 28 2.1.2 SelF-sacriFice as Moral Development ........................................................................................................ 35 2.1.3 Dedication: TransFerence or TransFormation? ..................................................................................... 44 2.2 An Approach to Compassion: Metaphysical or Psychological? .............................................. 53 2.3 The status of persons and its implications for Śāntideva's ethics ........................................ 56 Chapter Three: Buddhist Ethics and Virtue Ethics .................................................................. 78 3.1 A Brief Account of the Structure of Aristotelian Virtue Ethics ............................................... 79 3.1.1 The Highest Good .............................................................................................................................................. 79 3.1.2 The Function Argument ................................................................................................................................. 81 3.1.3 Virtues .................................................................................................................................................................... 82 3.1.4 Moral Virtues and Intellectual Virtues ..................................................................................................... 83 3.1.4.1 Moral virtues. ................................................................................................................................................................ 83 3.1.4.2 Practical wisdom. ........................................................................................................................................................ 84 3.1.5 Choice and Moral Strength ............................................................................................................................ 85 3.2 Comparing the Structure of Buddhist Ethics with the Structure of Virtues Ethics .......... 87 3.2.1 Describing the Highest Good: Nirvana, Eudaemonia, and 3.2.2 A Person's Function ......... 89 3.2.3 Aristotelian Virtues and Buddhist Virtues ............................................................................................. 94 3.2.4 Moral Choice and Cetanā ............................................................................................................................... 98 3.2.5 The Moral Agent .............................................................................................................................................. 108 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................... 110 Chapter Four: Buddhist Theories of Perception and Experience and their Relation to Ethics ................................................................................................................................................... 113 4.1 Two Perspectives on Perception: Buddhist Psychology and Buddhist Epistemology 114 4.2 The Basic Structure of Experience: A Buddhist Perspective ................................................ 118 4.2.1 Contact ................................................................................................................................................................. 120 4.2.2 Feeling .................................................................................................................................................................. 123 4.2.3 Ascertainment .................................................................................................................................................. 128 4.2.4 Cetanā .................................................................................................................................................................. 137 4.2.5 Attention ............................................................................................................................................................. 145 4.3 The Application of Psychological Building Blocks of Experience ...................................... 147 in Buddhist Ethical Practice ................................................................................................................... 147 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................... 157 Chapter Five: Buddhist Moral Phenomenology .................................................................... 159 ii 5.1 The Foundation of a Phenomenological Ethics: How Confusion Pervades Vice ............ 161 5.2 Mental States as the Determinant of Virtue and Vice ............................................................. 166 5.3 Re-envisioning Merit and the Field of Merit .............................................................................. 170 5.4 Knowledge as the Moral Solution: A Transformation of View ............................................ 176 5.5 Moral Language ................................................................................................................................... 181 5.5.1 Moral Language and Knowledge .............................................................................................................. 181 5.5.2 Moral Language and Mental States ......................................................................................................... 184 5.6 The Perfection of Wisdom Sūtras as a Precursor .................................................................... 187 to Mahāyāna Buddhist Moral Phenomenology ................................................................................ 187 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................... 197 References ......................................................................................................................................... 206 iii Table of Figures Figure 1. Zollner Illusion ............................................................................................................ 115 Figure 2. Hermann Grid Illusion. ................................................................................................ 131 Figure 3. Muller Lyer Illusion. ................................................................................................... 135 iv Acknowledgements I am deeply appreciative to so many people who have selflessly offered their expertise and support, which contributed to the completion of this project. First and foremost, I thank Prof. Jay Garfield for his guidance and encouragement without which this work would not have been realized. I am profoundly grateful to have benefited from Prof. Garfield’s expertise in philosophy, both Buddhist and Western, his generosity with his time, and his direct and clear feedback.
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