The Bodhisattva's brain : Buddhism naturalized / Owen Flanagan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Flanagan, Owen, Jr., 1949- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Buddhism--Psychology.

Buddhism.

Buddhist philosophy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 264 pages)

Other Title:

MIT Press CogNet.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : The MIT Press, [2011]

System Details:

text file

Summary:

If we are material beings living in a material world - and all the scientific evidence suggests that we are - then we must find existential meaning, if there is such a thing, in this physical world. We must cast our lot with the natural rather than the supernatural. Many Westerners with spiritual (but not religious) inclinations are attracted to Buddhism-almost as a kind of moral-mental hygiene. But, as Owen Flanagan points out in The Bodhisattva's Brain, Buddhism is hardly naturalistic. Its beliefs include karma, rebirth, nirvana, and nonphysical states of mind What is a nonreligious, materially groundedspiritual seeker to do? In The Bodhisattva's Brain, Flanagan argues that it is possible to discover in Buddhism a rich, empirically responsible philosophy that could point us to one path of human flourishing. "Buddhism naturalized," as Flanagan constructs it, contains a metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics; it is a fully naturalistic and comprehensive philosophy, compatible with the rest of knowledge. Some claim that neuroscience is in the process of validating Buddhism empirically, but Flanagan's naturalized Buddhism does not reduce itself to a brain scan showing happiness patterns. Buddhism naturalized offers instead a tool for achieving happiness and human flourishing-a way of conceiving of the human predicament, of thinking about meaning for finite material beings living in a material world. Book jacket.

Contents:

I An Essay in Comparative Neurophilosophy

1 The Bodhisattva's Brain 9

2 The Color of Happiness 37

3 Buddhist Epistemology and Science 59

II Buddhism as a Natural Philosophy

4 Selfless Persons 93

5 Being No-Self and Being Nice 115

6 Virtue and Happiness 165.

Notes:

"A Bradford Book."

Includes bibliographical references (pages [209]-247) and index.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Flanagan, Owen J. Bodhisattva's brain

ISBN:

9780262298179

0262298171

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license.