Buddhism Science

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Since the mutual encounter between Buddhism and the West starting in the late nineteenth century, the claim has been made that Buddhism is the religion most compatible with modern science. This idea was driven by both the colonial context in which Buddhism was “discovered” by Western societies, and, simultaneously, the tension that emerged between Christian doctrine and Darwinian evolutionary theory. The conversation about and between Buddhism and science continues today, particularly in the realms of evolutionary biology and cognitive science. This course will examine these most recent contemporary comparisons in order to trace changes in both scientific and Buddhist thinking that help to bridge secular and religious views of the nature of human life and cognition.