The Availability of Ethics in Zen Buddhist Philosophy

Abstract

This thesis offers a renewed understanding of Zen ethics, emphasizing its singularity and integrality. Zen Buddhism is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism and is religious in nature. Several Zen masters have, however, given a philosophical account of this religious tradition, among whom Dogen. Dogen has been one of the most important figures in the Zen tradition to write of Zen Buddhist philosophy. In contemporary Zen philosophy, there has been an ongoing debate on whether or not there is ethical content in Zen Buddhism. James Whitehill has argued for the presence of a ‘premature’ form of ethics in Zen Buddhist philosophy and attempted to reconstruct this aptitude further. There are, however, two problems with his reconstruction: first, he presupposes the ‘prematurity’ of Zen ethics, and second, his attempt forces Zen ethics to fit a somewhat Western mold. Pace Whitehill’s account, this thesis argues for the availability of an efficient ethics in Zen Buddhist philosophy. It does so by emphasizing the importance of moral precepts, received by the Zen student from their teacher, and the prominence of compassion in Zen. It shows that these notions combined provide the much sought-after ethical content for Zen Buddhism to qualify as a mature and full-fledged ethics.