BUDDHIST MORALITY AND TRANS-MORALITY

JAMES D. SELLMANN

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a study of Buddhist ethics and the trans-moral perspective
developed by Masao Abe a member of the Kyoto School of Japanese philosophy.
The paper presents some of the major Buddhist moral concepts, and clarifies the
Buddhist trans-moral perspective in order to show that it is not a form of nihilism
or pessimism. The first part of the paper explicates the Buddhist world view
and its moral teachings. The second part of the paper argues for the value of the
trans-moral perspective. The trans-moral perspective is a religio-philosophical
dissolution of the vicious cycle of judgment and counter-judgment perpetuated
by most two-value, that is, right/wrong, true/false, moral systems. The transmoral
perspective offers an engaging way to cope with moral atrocities and the
subsequent cycle of counter-judgment.