Buddhist Economic Ethics based on Wise Self-Interest

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K16624
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Religious studies
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: TSUJIMURA Masahide 神戸大学, 経済経営研究所, ジュニアリサーチフェロー (50624756)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 合理性 / 自己利益 / wise self-interest / 利他 / 功利主義 / 仏教経済学 / ダライ・ラマ14世 / アマルティア・セン

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The basic standpoint of Buddhist economics is to criticize Western economics. It is supposed that “self-interest” in the theory of Western economics, regarded as being “egoistic,” is opposed to the Buddhist philosophy of “love and compassion,” regarded as being “altruistic.” I would like to argue, however, that it is impossible to place the two theories into such a simple conflict structure. In this paper, focusing on the rationality of choice, we discuss this question relating to this conflict, and demonstrate a similarity between the theory of rationality presented by Amartya Sen and the theory of “wise self-interest” offered by the 14th Dalai Lama. The rationality in wise self-interest, which argues that the best way to look after self-interests is to take care of the interests of others, is similar to the rationality observed in modern economics in terms of rationality as the use of reasoned scrutiny.

Free Research Field

宗教学、倫理学