Quote:
Originally Posted by whswhs
I don't think I could analyze Buddhist thought as a whole, but it seems to include an underlying model of human motivation akin to those of Epicureanism and utilitarianism, where value = relief of privation, want, or suffering. Epicureanism might be a form of virtue ethics, but I'm pretty sure utilitarianism is not.
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My impression of the Tripitaka was that it was much more about What To Do than about What To Achieve with those actions. In fact, a point which I'd consider quite anti-utilitarian: eventually on the way to Nirvana one should
stop having the goal of attaining Nirvana. Doing actions that facilitate achieving something that isn't your goal seems to be contrary to utilitarian approaches.
But of course I don't remember many things now and didn't understand many back when I read it.