Abstract

This chapter shows how some forms of Buddhist ethics share features with Western moral philosophies, especially virtue ethics and consequentialism. Interpreting various forms of Buddhist ethics with the aid of diverse Western moral theories can increase our understanding. The author suggests that no one Western meta‐ethical theory provides an adequate theoretical framework for grasping moral thinking in any of the major traditions of Buddhism and, a fortiori the vast and heterogeneously diverse tradition of Buddhism as a whole. Instead of translating Buddhist moral thinking into Western categories, scholars will understand Buddhist ethics better if approached, in the end, on its own terms, an approach that leads to a richer and more fertile philosophical dialogue.