By Wendi Adamek (Green Tara reporter-at-large)
Peter Harvey (University of Sunderland, Great Britain), an internationally respected scholar of early Buddhism, has recently published an article in the Journal of Buddhist Ethics that examines traditional Buddhist ethics in the context of contemporary social and environmental concerns.
Unlike writers who evoke Buddhism as an eco-friendly creed in a superficial manner, Harvey brings his nuanced readings of early Buddhist scriptures to bear on issues that early Buddhists never had to face. In the introduction to his essay, “Avoiding Unintended Harm to the Environment and the Buddhist Ethic of Intention,” he offers a key challenge to Buddhist scholars and environmentalists alike:
“Given our present knowledge, is environmental concern to be seen as morally obligatory for a Buddhist or only a voluntary positive action? Writers sometimes simply assume that Buddhist ethics are supportive of the full range of environmental concerns, but this needs to be critically argued.”
Read on to explore this fascinating and illuminating essay on Buddhist ethics and a full range of environmental concerns, from global warming to global whaling.
Click here to read article in full >>
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Wendi Adamek is chair of the Buddhist Studies Seminar and this blog's Green Tara Reporter-at-large. Wendi joined the Barnard Religion Department as Assistant Professor of Chinese Religions in the fall of 2001. She completed her doctorate at Stanford University in 1998, and specializes in medieval Chinese Buddhism. She is the author of The Mystique of Transmission: On an Early Chan Text and its Contexts (Columbia University Press, 2007).
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