Buddhist Ethics; Economic Ethics; Buddhist Economic Ethics; Ethics; Buddhism
摘要
Capitalism, with its logic of minimizing cost and maximizing profit for the accumulation of private property, has caused economic, social, cultural and ecological crises not only in the Third World, but also in the First. There is an attempt among Buddhists both in the East and the West to establish a Buddhist economic model in response to the exploitative and destructive nature of capitalist economic structures. In this paper I present a theory of Buddhist economics, an economic theory essentially derived from Thai Theravada Buddhism, an approach which stands in stark contrast to the modern capitalist economic perspective. Buddhist economics emphasizes the normative or the ethical elements found in Buddhist sources and scriptures. Contemporary Eastern and Western Buddhist economists will be discussed to facilitate the construction of a critical perspective on and a systematic analysis of a modern Buddhist theory of economics.
