Owen Flanagan podcast on eudaimonistic theories
By Loden Jinpa on Nov 27, 2007 in Philosophy
Update: 12/12/2007
I finally got around to listening to the second hour of this podcast.
In the second half I found myself less enthusiastic about Owen’s presentation. I find it hard to hear someone present fiction as fact…I can understand how someone not a belonging to a tradition can speak for that tradition. He even suggested that the Dalai Lama doesn’t believe in rebirth! I love thought provoking discussions, I mean to did link to this podcast in the first place but, I was disappointed by the second Question and answer section.
In the following lecture, the philosopher Owen Flanagan explores whether Buddhism is eudaimonistic. In so doing, he presents some interpretive points about the general structure of Buddhist ethics, and the plausibility of empirical claims about Buddhism and happiness.
http://www.cbs.columbia.edu/weblog/2007/11/the-bodhisattva.html
If you are into philosophy this podcast is worth a listen. Owen is thought provoking. There are some assertions he puts forward as Buddhist theories that are simply incorrect and this is a shame.
Minute 10.35 At one point his says that Buddhist ethics is rich although.
He goes on to say the practice of compassion and loving-kindness for all beings might be way too demanding but it is nonetheless ethically rich.
This shows me that he really doesn’t get the process of transformation presented in Buddhist meditation. Yet he says at the very start of the lecture that he is a skeptic in regards to whether Buddhist meditation can produce eudaimonistic.Is this tantamount to not believing in modern physics just because the experiments were not done by you the individual? I NOT saying that he should just accept Buddhist theories on the production on eudaimonistic or what Buddhist yogis would call the bliss of meditation. What I am saying is it is not good science to dismiss them outright without first doing the tests.
He also over simplifies the Buddhist theory of emptiness. Minute 9.40 His description of the self as a psychologically continuous and connected being is classic Sautrantika’s view of selflessness and this is not emptiness. It is not the final view of the Buddha nor that of Nagarjuna, Chandrakirti or Tsong Khapa.
Also he says that Jay Garfield says that the Dalai Lama is pandering to Westerners by presenting Buddhadharma as a path to happiness. Because the Buddha first teaching was about removing suffering.
I think that there is something in that statement that is worth looking at.
Happiness for the sake of happiness, or put another way, happiness as the goal is not a Buddhist practice. However it is a byproduct of the path and to suggest otherwise is simply silly.
Having said all that, I really enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to the next one.
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It may be true that the ways in which Tibetan Buddhism is packaged for Westerners plays upon exoticism, esotericism, and a bunch of other things to make it seem magical, mysterious, and just plain appealing. To place the blame squarely at the feet of the Dalai Lama is not entirely justified.
However, as you note, to say that happiness has no place in Buddhism is to miss the mark entirely. Speaking from a Theravada perspective, there are certainly places in the Pali Canon where the Buddha explicitly says that a happy mind is calmed more easily, is more pliable are ready to work with, is more receptive to understanding the Dhamma and to realizing the true nature of reality.
Take this quote from the Book of Tens in the Anguttara Nikaya:
“And what, Lord, is the benefit and reward of gladness?”
“(Deep inner) joy (piti).”
“And what, Lord, is the benefit and reward of (deep inner) joy?”
“Tranquillity.”
“And what, Lord, is the benefit and reward of tranquillity?”
“Happiness.”
“And what, Lord, is the benefit and reward of happiness?”
“Concentration of the mind.” “And what, Lord, is the benefit and reward of concentration?”
“Realistic knowledge and vision.”
A person who is not joyful and happy will not be able to achieve a concentrated mind until the sadness and remorse he or she feels is overcome. Thus, you can see how happiness is indeed highly valued in Buddhism.
~lotus
True
I think the point here is that happiness is not the goal. The goal is liberation, freedom form an existence that is conditions by problems. But it is an interesting subject and one worth some investigation if only to better understand Buddhism