has finally arrived. It\u2019s a good one\u2026 I\u2019m just getting started on it, but the contributors list alone makes it a must-have for everyone interested in contemporary Buddhist studies and ethics.<\/p>\n
A quick quote from the prologue (describing Professor Keown\u2019s Ph.D. days):<\/p>\n
\u201cThe two areas where Buddhism<\/a> had invested virtually all of its intellectual energy, it seemed to Damien, were psychology and metaphysics, subjects reflecting the central Buddhist preoccupation with the nature of reality and the individual\u2019s response to it.\u201d (prologue, p.xv)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It\u2019s true. And it makes the job of the contemporary Buddhist philosopher all the more dicey. We have to pick and choose the ideas (and stories) that will form a structure<\/span> of Buddhist ethics; just as Buddhist philosophers of past days did with psychology and metaphysics. We have to systematize and order in our contemporary age just as they did (see especially the Abhidhamma<\/span>) so long ago. It\u2019s tricky \u2013 but, oddly, fun.<\/p>\n
As an aside, I cannot count how many times I\u2019ve heard or read that Buddhism or the Buddha wasn\u2019t interested in metaphysics<\/span>, followed by a re-telling of the \u201cman and the arrow<\/a>\u201d story:<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogger.googleusercontent.com\/tracker\/7907151-8968984839357648680?l=americanbuddhist.blogspot.com\")
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