Postgraduate Course: Buddhist Ethics (PG) (DIVI11068)
Course Outline
| School | School of Divinity |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course explores a selection of topics in Buddhist ethics, using a range of sources from historical contexts and contemporary debate. Themes covered include eco-Buddhism, gender & sexuality (women/transgender/nonbinary), animal ethics, abortion, euthanasia, economic ethics, and issues related to Buddhism and violence, war, and peace. |
| Course description |
Academic Description:
This course explores a selection of topics in Buddhist ethics, using a range of sources from historical contexts and contemporary debate. Themes covered include eco-Buddhism, gender & sexuality (women/transgender/nonbinary), animal ethics, abortion, euthanasia, economic ethics, and issues related to Buddhism and violence, war, and peace. It is both an analysis of ethical issues from a Buddhist perspective and includes critical responses to Buddhist ethical ideas. The course is a rigorous engagement with Buddhist ethical practices with both an historical overview and an engagement with Buddhist ethics.
Syllabus/Outline Content:
The foundations of Buddhist ethics will be covered including karma, rebirth, the Buddhist precepts, and notions of compassion and loving-kindness. These will be used to explore a wide range of Buddhist ethical ideas including eco-Buddhism, gender & sexuality (women/transgender/nonbinary), animal ethics, abortion, euthanasia, economic ethics, and issues related to Buddhism and violence, war, and peace, racial ethics, race-based identity, whiteness.
It aims to cover a spectrum of Buddhist behavior offering a perspective on how Buddhists understand wholesome and unwholesome behavior, and how their ideas evaluate classical and contemporary ethical issues.
Student Learning Experience
The course will be delivered alongside a level 10 (upper undergraduate) course. PG students will share the weekly two-hour class in addition to fortnightly seminars as a PGT cohort. One hour will usually be a discussion, led by the lecturer, of key themes, concepts and contextual information that will enable full comprehension of the following week¿s readings. The other hour of the joint class will normally be student-led discussion of readings from articles, book chapters and primary texts (in translation). Students should expect to read a substantial piece of scholarship each week in preparation for class. In addition, PG students will have a fortnightly advanced seminar to discuss contextual and theoretical readings.
Four short close analysis pieces are due during the semester, while the main essay, which will require students to draw on several of the readings in order to address an issue in Buddhist ethics is due at the end of the course. Formative feedback will be provided on the close analysis pieces and essay plans, and the final class of the semester will be given over to discussion of thematic links and plans for the final essay.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 24 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 28,
Feedback/Feedforward Hours 1,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
167 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Close analysis of primary sources, book chapter or article (total 1,500 words) = 30%
(Students will submit four x 500-word pieces during semester, the three best of which will count towards the grade.)
Essay exploring a key theme in Buddhist ethics (3,000 words) = 70%
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| Feedback |
Students will receive feedback on individual assignments. Close analysis feedback will be given during the course. Formative feedback will be given for 1 page essay plans for the main essay for the course. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Identify and analyse key concepts and ideals that feature in Buddhist discussions of ethics.
- Identify the major concerns and arguments in a range of ethical debates within Buddhism.
- Evaluate a range of Buddhist ethical debates in a balanced and scholarly manner.
- Draw on evidence from both primary and secondary sources in support of arguments.
- Produce a clearly structured, properly presented, and well-evidenced argument in essay form.
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Reading List
Batholomeusz, Tessa J. In Defense of Dharma: Just-war ideology in Buddhist Sri Lanka (Routledge 2002).
Cozort, Daniel, and James Mark Shields (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Ethics (OUP 2018)
Fuller, Paul, An Introduction to Engaged Buddhism (Bloomsbury 2021)
Garfield, Jay L. Buddhist Ethics: A Philosophical Exploration (Oxford University Press 2021)
Harvey, Peter, An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics (CUP 2000)
Heim, Maria. Buddhist Ethics (Cambridge University 2020)
Jerryson, Michael K. and Mark Juergensmeyer (eds) Buddhist Warfare (OUP 2010).
Keown, Damien, Buddhism and Bioethics (Macmillan 1995)
Keown, Damien (ed.) Buddhism and Abortion (Macmillan 1999)
Keown, Damien (ed.) Contemporary Buddhist Ethics (Routledge 2000)
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
- Curiosity for learning and openness to different perspectives
- Willingness to engage across disciplinary boundaries and to approach sources in new ways
- Finely-tuned skills of critical analysis
- Ability to construct an argument concisely
- Ability to communicate effectively with others, both orally and in writing |
| Keywords | Buddhist Ethics,precepts,violence,compassion |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Paul Fuller
Tel:
Email: paul.fuller@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Olga Szekrenyes
Tel:
Email: oszekren@ed.ac.uk |
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