| Title: | Virtue, Knowledge, and Good Life – Insights from Buddhism : doctoral dissertation |
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| Authors: | ID Sarkar, Joyitri (Author)
ID Klampfer, Friderik (Mentor) More about this mentor...  |
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| Files: |  DOK_Sarkar_Joyitri_2026.pdf (1,76 MB)
MD5: 38A6596CE41ACCDFE53EFE0287899784
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| Language: | English |
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| Work type: | Doctoral dissertation |
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| Typology: | 2.08 - Doctoral Dissertation |
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| Organization: | FF - Faculty of Arts
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| Abstract: | The central research question explored in this thesis is: What does it mean, and what does it take to live a good life? More precisely, the thesis examines the relationship between knowledge and virtues, concentrating on the meeting point of Buddhist and Western virtue ethics. One of the age-old and most hotly contested philosophical topics is what constitutes a good life. The rich Buddhist tradition has been ignored and/or misinterpreted in the West. At the same time, Western virtue ethics, with its origins in Ancient Greece and its first climax in Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics, has significantly impacted the history of Western philosophy. This thesis will examine Buddhist philosophy from a new perspective, drawing on my knowledge of Buddhist philosophical and religious ideas and practices and my experience with Indian culture. The examination will primarily concentrate on the characteristics of the Buddhist counterparts of the Aristotelian notions of virtue, practical knowledge, happiness, and the good life, as well as the relationships among them. The core ideas of ancient Greek and modern virtue ethics are strikingly similar to the Buddhist notions of Nirvāṇa, enlightenment, the Middle Path, and the Eightfold Path. These ideas are the foundation of the Buddhist intellectual heritage. The thesis aims to bridge the apparent divide between the two cultures or civilisations and show that, beyond some indisputable differences, they share many features that provide a shared intellectual basis for what is now commonly known as the global ethic, rather than to draw a sharp boundary between these two traditions.
Philosophical traditions have debated the idea of the 'good life' for a long time, providing a variety of viewpoints on what makes for a purposeful and happy life. Fundamentally, living a good life is frequently defined as achieving happiness, health, and a life that aligns with one's moral principles and ideals. It is influenced by moral conduct, deep connections, the search for knowledge, as well as by happiness and inner fulfilment. Buddhism defines the 'Good Life' as a peaceful existence based on moral behaviour, knowledge, and mental discipline, ultimately resulting in enlightenment (Nirvāṇa) and the end of suffering. The reconstructed ideal of the Bodhisattva promises to offer a solution to the difficulties of leading a moral life in the modern world.
This thesis offers a comprehensive explanation of human flourishing that integrates ideas from modern moral philosophy, Aristotelian virtue theory, and Buddhist ethics. It makes the case that the best way to understand the ideal life is as a dynamic interaction between virtue, knowledge, and compassion, underpinned by relational responsibility and attentive awareness. The project overcomes the tendency of previous accounts to see thriving as either exclusively ascetic (as in specific readings of Buddhism) or primarily intellectual (as in some interpretations of Aristotle) by establishing ethical excellence in both cultivated compassion and rational deliberation
In contrast to earlier attempts, the proposed framework (1) expands virtue ethics by incorporating compassion, global responsibility, and attentional discipline at its core; (2) interprets Buddhist mindfulness and the Bodhisattva ideal as moral as well as contemplative practices, elucidating their ethical depth beyond "wellness" discourses; and (3) offers a cross-cultural vocabulary for connecting character formation, epistemic clarity, and altruistic concern. This account emphasizes the interdependence of self-cultivation, understanding, and relational care, providing a richer and more practically relevant guide for living well in pluralistic, interconnected societies than solutions that favor a single tradition or reduce ethics to rules or consequences. |
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| Keywords: | Buddhist Nirvāṇa, Bodhisattva, good life, virtues, mindfulness, friendship, non-attachment, weell-being, llourishing, happiness |
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| Place of publishing: | Maribor |
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| Place of performance: | Maribor |
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| Publisher: | J. Sarkar |
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| Year of publishing: | 2026 |
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| Number of pages: | 1 spletni vir (1 datoteka PDF (202 str.)) |
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| PID: | 20.500.12556/DKUM-95832 |
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| UDC: | 17:24(043.3) |
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| COBISS.SI-ID: | 286100227 |
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| Publication date in DKUM: | 27.07.2026 |
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| Views: | 164 |
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| Downloads: | 19 |
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| Metadata: |    |
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| Categories: | FF
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