With responses from Mark Sidertis (Illinois State University)
"Ethics Without Autonomy"
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Interpreters of Immanuel Kant, such as Allen Wood and Christine Korsgaard, have argued powerfully that the Kantian account of ethics is the only viable one. However, Buddhists are in a good position to resist these arguments.
Drawing on Buddhist philosophical literature, the philosopher Charles Goodman outlines a detailed account of moral self-cultivation that completely does without the concept of moral obligations that authoritatively bind an autonomous will. Goodman suggests that western consequentialists who wish to meet the challenges posed by contemporary Kantianism may find it helpful to borrow certain aspects of this Buddhist perspective.
This lecture was recorded on Friday, May 2, 2008 at 80 Claremont Avenue (the Department of Religion, Columbia University).
