Comparative Religious Ethics: Buddhist and Christian

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Is religion necessary to live a moral life? If so, are all religions basically the same when it comes to the moral norms contained in them? If not, how do we account for the differences among religious values, norms and principles? How do religions justify their distinctive moral claims in the face of alternative proposals? Can we study the ethical thought of a religious tradition that is different from our own in a responsible manner and, if so, how should we proceed? This course will take up these and other related questions through an examination of ancient and contemporary Christian and Buddhist texts in dialogue with recent theoretical options for the comparative study of ethics. We will begin with an assessment of the importance and distinctive quality of religious voices in moral debate and then look at some of the ways that contemporary scholars have approached the investigation and assessment of similarities and differences in moral world views. The course will end with a comparative consideration of certain Buddhist and Christian options in environmental ethics.