A Mirror Is for Reflection

Jake H. Davis is a Postdoctoral Associate at New York University with the Virtues of Attention project. He has taught at Brown University and at the City of College of New York. He has authored and co-authored articles at the intersection of Buddhist philosophy, moral philosophy, and cognitive science, drawing on his textual, meditative, and monastic training in the Theravada Buddhist tradition of Burma (Myanmar).

The paradox of Buddhist ethics, as any philosophical paradox, can humble people in their dangerous religious certainties and start them wondering afresh about the best way to live their lives during troubling times. Buddhist practitioners are also credited to provide strong exemplars in the world of people who practice what they preach (or rather, decline to preach) and who strive for modest, morally exemplary lives, grounded in kindness. After all, if there is no self, what point exists in acting self-servingly? For these reasons alone, Buddhist ethics constitutes a worthy contemplation. Thanks for this new volume that rethinks how that paradox arises and how it may be resolved, for that inquiry itself constitutes good works.

• ForewordOwen Flanagan IntroductionJake H. Davis Part One: Buddhist Ethics and Western Categories1. 'It's ethics, Jim, but not as we know it': Reflections on the Absence of Moral Philosophy in Buddhism Damien Keown2. The Nature of a Buddhist Path Bronwyn Finnigan3. Buddhist Moral Thought and Western Moral Philosophy Christopher W. Gowans Part Two: Constructing Buddhist Ethics4. Zen Buddhism and the Space of Ethics Jin Y. Park5. Buddhist Ethics: A Perspective Graham Priest6. Breaking Good: Moral Agency, Neuroethics, and the Spontaneity of Compassion Christian Coseru Part Three: Karma and Rebirth7. Modern and Traditional Understandings of Karma Charles Goodman8. Buddhism without Reincarnation? Examining the Prospects of a "Naturalized" Buddhism Jan Westerhoff9. The Problems and Promise of Karma from an Engaged Buddhist Perspective Sallie B. King Part Four: Mindfulness, Memory, and Virtue10. Ethical Reading and the Ethics of Forgetting and Remembering Sara McClintock 11. Mindfulness and Ethics: Attention, Virtue and Perfection Jay L. Garfield12. "When You Know for Yourselves": Mindfulness, Wisdom, and the Qualities of Heart Jake H. Davis Part Five: Intention and Action 13. The Dynamics of Intention, Freedom, and Habituation according to Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakosabhasya Karin Meyers14. What Do Buddhists Think about Free Will? Riccardo Repetti15. Buddhist Reductionist Action Theory Mark Siderits Part Six: Politics, Anger, and Equanimity16. The Inherent Dignity of Empty Persons Christopher Kelley17. Ethics Without Justice: Eliminating The Roots Of Resentment Amber Carpenter18. Equanimity in Relationship: Responding to Moral Ugliness Emily McRae Index