作者單位：美國大學哲學與宗教學系副教授。 Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religion, American University, Washington, DC.
關鍵詞
Buddhist ethics=佛教倫理; postmodern ethics=後現代倫理; Huayan Buddhism=華嚴佛教; Jacques Derrida=雅克‧德希達; deconstruction=解構; compassion=慈悲; wisdom=智慧
摘要
This essay considers an ethical paradigm that can be drawn from Buddhist and postmodern philosophy. Ethics is a practical branch of philosophy and an ethical paradigm is closely connected to the fundamental structure and tenets of a philosophical system. That ethics is a practical branch of philosophy also indicates that meaning and value of a certain ethical paradigm is directly related to the environments in which the paradigm is understood and practiced. In considering an ethical paradigm based on Buddhist and postmodern philosophy, and doing so in the context of the 21st century in which we live, we will examine a paradigm I call an "ethics of tension." I will first outline the concept, and discuss how this paradigm can be a form of ethics that can be envisioned in Buddhist and postmodern philosophy. Finally, I will consider the meaning of ethics and the ethical that the ethics of tension would like to underline as an ethical discourse and for an ethical life.
