There was a conference on Buddhist ethics at Columbia University this weekend. I did not go, as I didn't hear about it until it was over. This is just as well, I suspect, given the topic of the first panel was on "Buddhist ethics naturalized."
The growth of Buddhist studies in the humanities has led to greater philosophical efforts to incorporate Buddhist ethics into contemporary Western moral philosophy. This enterprise usually entails a naturalization of certain Buddhist tenets that is consonant with the post-Enlightenment orientation of contemporary philosophy and science.
Had I been there, it's possible I would have manifested as some wrathful dharma protector dakini and danced all over their thick academic skulls. I hate it when that happens.
The question is begged -- why is it so bleeping all-fired necessary to incorporate Buddhism into contemporary Western moral philosophy? If you want to "get" Buddhism, why can't you climb out of the bleeping post-Enlightenment orientation box first?
A blogger who attended the conference explains that "Buddhist ethics naturalized"� ...
"... essentially means clearing out anything that looks superstitious so that a more palatable version of Buddhism can be understood and taught. Ideas like Karma (in some understandings at least) and rebirth are jettisoned, while the metaphysics, as Owen Flanagan put it, of no-self, impermanence, and so on would be retained, as they so adequately match our contemporary scientific understanding of reality."
In other words, they're prepared to accept only what they already understand, and if they don't understand it, they "fix it" to make it more understandable.
Robert Thurman was one of the panelists for this, and I assume he defended karma and rebirth. Thurman's defenses of rebirth tend to be way too literal for may taste, but at least it's a genuinely Buddhist perspective.
Some of the other panels sounded much better. The Engaged Buddhist panel might actually have been useful. I take it they decided to keep karma.
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