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Forum for Philosophy

January 11th, 2012

The Bodhisattva’s Brain: Buddhism Naturalized

0 comments | 1 shares

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Forum for Philosophy

January 11th, 2012

The Bodhisattva’s Brain: Buddhism Naturalized

0 comments | 1 shares

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Owen Flanagan

 


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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

 

 

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Forum for Philosophy

Science, politics, and culture from a philosophical point of view

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