The limits of utilitarian thinking Barry Magid March 19th 2016

In "Eye in the Sky," Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman are faced with a moral dilemma. Should they order a drone strike to kill a group of suicide bombers? Even if a little girl in playing in the yard and will be certainly killed as well? How do we make such decisions? We intially start with a utilitarian attempt at a quantitative analysis - how many people can be save with each action? How does Buddhist ethics see this problem? When we step out of means to ends thinking, and see that people are not means to ends? What if every person and every moment were an end in itself?

Download Talk

Next Talk

Barry Magid March 26th 2016 This is the truth

Previous Talk

Barry Magid March 12th 2016 The fantasy of a timless, universal Buddhist morality

If you found this talk helpful, consider donating to Ordinary Mind

This talk was brought to you by the generosity of people like you. Ordinary Mind Zendo is a non profit organization that depends entirely on the generosity of people like you for its continued existence. If sitting with us, listening to our talks, or supporting a Zen center in New York City is in line with your values, you can make a donation here.