[Buddha-l] Ethical Dilemmas

[Erik Hoogcarspel]

Op 10-06-10 22:06, Barnaby Thieme schreef:
> Not that I have anything against ethical behavior -- I just think psychology is a better framework for assessing it than philosophy or religious doctrine.
>
>    
Hi Barnaby
you are right: what someone does does not depend on ethics, but on 
his/her psychological condition. Ethics is philosophy, it is reflection 
and discussion. So the answere of the Dalai Lama should have been 'ask 
me afterwards', because only then the discussion starts. Only then do 
you ask yourself the question 'do I have to apologize or can I be proud 
of myself?'
Of course you can try to live by ethical standards, f.i. eat vegetarian 
food, not carry a gun, be polite and even compassionate, but ethical 
standards are the result of ethical reflection. Btw I see that many 
people think that ethics has something to do with religion, but I think 
this is a mistake. A rule of behavior does not become ethically 
justified because it has been sanctioned by some religious authority. In 
general religions tend to prescribe rather absolute rules that have to 
be obeyed blindly, so they ignore individual responsibility and without 
responsibility no ethics is possible.

erik