Buddhism and Animal Ethics

<p><b><i>Buddhism in Animal Ethics</i></b><b> addresses one of the most urgent areas of contemporary philosophy: how humans ought to relate morally to nonhuman animals. While animal ethics is a global field shaped by diverse cultural traditions, Buddhist perspectives have rarely been gathered into a single, sustained discussion. Geoffrey Barstow brings those perspectives together for the first time in this edited volume.</b><br><br>Featuring chapters by twelve leading scholars of Buddhist philosophy, Barstow brings together practical ethical questions such as killing pests and eating animals with deeper debates about speciesism, moral status, and animal rights in Buddhist thought. Several chapters also place Buddhist ideas in direct conversation with influential Western philosophers, including Kant, Singer, Gruen, and Callicott, highlighting both points of contact and significant tensions.<br><br>Rather than presenting a single, unified Buddhist position, the volume reflects the diversity and complexity of the traditions it examines. Collectively, these essays offer the most comprehensive analysis to date of Buddhist approaches to animal ethics, making a major contribution to Buddhist philosophy while also bringing these ethical perspectives into wider discussions in animal ethics.</p>