Owen Flanagan
Listen to the recording here
Many Westerners with spiritual (but not religious) inclinations are attracted to Buddhism. But Buddhism is hardly naturalistic. Atheistic when it comes to a creator god, Buddhism is otherwise opulently polytheistic, with spirits, protector deities, ghosts, and evil spirits. Its beliefs include karma, rebirth, nirvana, and nonphysical states of mind. Can we subtract these elements from Buddhism and thereby discover a comprehensive philosophy that is compatible with the rest of knowledge and can point us to a path of human flourishing?
Speaker
Owen Flanagan
James B. Duke Professor of Philosophy, Duke University
Chair
Kristina Musholt
LSE Fellow, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method and Deputy Director of the Forum for European Philosophy
Recorded on 11 January 2012 at the LSE
