BUDDHA, SOCRATES, AND US

A provocative case for exploring an increasingly urgent question: how to live a good life responsibly.

Batchelor, an author and scholar of Buddhism, argues that the state of our world requires new thinking and a reexamination of scholars from antiquity, notably Socrates and the Buddha (Gotama). In the process, he turns up novel insights, bridging these teachers’ respective philosophies and applying them to the uncertainty and reactivity of the modern world. In his latest book, Batchelor explores the roots of both Socrates’ and Gotama’s teachings, which developed contemporaneously. He finds many similarities in their lives and approaches, each having pursued a life of questioning and self-examination, emphasizing ethics, and using reasoning to train others to think for themselves. Neither offered definitive answers. Batchelor suggests both may have suffered from being misinterpreted by well-meaning followers. He writes, “Over time Buddhist traditions have tended to emphasize contemplative skills…over the practical skills of creativity, work, and survival.” This moved the study of Buddhism toward mindfulness and away from the eightfold path, which resulted in the “fatal turn in Buddhism from ethics to epistemology, from care to transcendence.” Alternating chapters focus on Western philosophy, and Batchelor explores ethical thinking from ancient Greeks to the present day. Interestingly, he finds the most alignment with the work of Hannah Arendt, who wrote extensively about the importance of both thinking and acting. Batchelor identifies 32 virtues that must be cultivated for a broader, ethical understanding. He writes: “The cartography that emerges from this archaeological excavation of scattered texts also provides a dynamic template for Gotama’s vision of a restored civic space.” The second half of the book details these virtues through the lens of both of these thinkers, offering a broad, interdisciplinary approach.

Engaging and thought-provoking pathway for cultivating an ethical life and helping bring about a better world.