"Confronting the Obstacles to a Buddhist Physicalism"
Thursday, 30th November 2023, 14.00-15.30: “Confronting the Obstacles to a Buddhist Physicalism”
While some claim that the Buddhism is one of the few religious traditions that could be
‘naturalized’ or made consistent with the findings of the natural sciences, others dismiss this
claim as the result of a variety of confusions about the Buddhist tradition. One frequently
cited roadblock is that naturalizing Buddhism would require adopting a physicalist
metaphysics, something allegedly incompatible with key elements of Buddhist thought and
practice. I explore several of the purported obstacles and examine what might be lost, and
perhaps gained, by trying to develop a physicalist Buddhism
Date: 30 November 2023, 14:00 (Thursday, 8th week, Michaelmas 2023)
Venue: Lady Margaret Hall Library, Norham Gardens OX2 6QA
Venue Details: Old Library
Speaker: Prof. Mark Sederits (Seuol National University)
Organising department: Faculty of Theology and Religion
Organiser: Professor Jan Westerhoff
Part of: Can there be Buddhist physicalism?
Booking required?: Not required
Audience: Public
Editor: Claire MacLeod