What Kind of Ethics Is Buddhist Ethics? 佛教倫理是哪一種倫理學？

D18 Dharma and the West · 佛法與西方哲學Ethics and Practice · 倫理與修行Advanced · 高級about 30 min

戒

sīla Pāli　śīla Sanskritethical conduct

The verdict · 判定

Closest: Aristotle’s virtue ethics, for the early teaching. The Mahāyāna adds a concern for the welfare of all beings that reads like consequentialism. Kant is the furthest of the three. The likeness to Aristotle ends where the Buddha denies the self whose flourishing Aristotle’s ethics is about.

就早期的教導而言，最接近的是亞里斯多德的德行倫理學。大乘多了一份對一切眾生福祉的關懷，讀起來像後果論。三者當中康德最遠。跟亞里斯多德的相似，到佛陀否定「自我」的地方為止；亞里斯多德的倫理學談的，正是那個自我的興旺。

中文翻譯Every paragraph has a Chinese translation. Tap 中譯▾ under a paragraph to open that one, or use Show Chinese · 顯示中譯 at the top to open them all. 每一段都有中譯：點段落下方的「中譯」只開那一段，或按上方的「顯示中譯」一次全部打開。

1 · What the Dharma says · 佛法怎麼說

Three strands and no theory 三股線，沒有一套理論

The Buddha taught ethics constantly and never offered a theory of it. He did not ask what makes right acts right. He asked what leads to suffering and what leads to its end. Still, when the discourses give reasons for acting one way and not another, the reasons are of three kinds, and they are the three kinds this series met in the lesson on right action.

佛陀不斷地教導倫理，卻從來沒有提出一套關於倫理的理論。他沒有問「是什麼使對的行為成為對的」。他問的是：什麼導向苦？什麼導向苦的止息？儘管如此，當經典為「這樣做而不那樣做」給出理由的時候，那些理由有三種；而這三種，就是這個系列在「對的行為」那一課遇到的那三種。

The first is consequence. The Buddha tells his son Rāhula to reflect on every act of body, speech, and mind as one looks into a mirror: “Does this act with the body that I want to do lead to hurting myself, hurting others, or hurting both?” If it does, it is not to be done (Majjhima Nikāya 61). To the Kālāmas, who were confused by rival teachers, he gives a similar standard. They should not go by tradition, scripture, or logic alone. “But when you know for yourselves: ‘These things are unskillful, blameworthy, criticized by sensible people, and when you undertake them, they lead to harm and suffering,’ then you should give them up” (Aṅguttara Nikāya 3.65).

第一種是後果。佛陀告訴他的兒子羅睺羅：對身、語、意的每一個行為，都要像照鏡子那樣省察：「我想要做的這個身體的行為，會導致傷害自己、傷害別人，或兩者都傷害嗎？」如果會，就不該做（《中部》61）。對於被彼此競爭的老師們弄得困惑的迦羅摩人，他給了類似的標準。他們不應該只憑傳統、經典或邏輯。「但是，當你們自己知道：『這些事是不善的、該受責備的、被智者所批評的；去做它們，會導致傷害與苦』，那時你們就應該捨棄它們」（《增支部》3.65）。

The second is rule. Lay followers undertake five precepts: to refrain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxicants. Monks and nuns keep several hundred. The third is character. The same discourse to the Kālāmas goes on to say why those things lead to harm. A person overcome by greed, hatred, or delusion kills, steals, and lies. These three are called the unwholesome roots, and an act is unwholesome because it grows from them (Aṅguttara Nikāya 3.69). The best-known summary of the teaching puts the third strand last, where it gathers up the other two: “Not to do any evil; to embrace the good; to purify one’s mind: this is the instruction of the Buddhas” (Dhammapada 183).

第二種是規則。在家弟子受持五戒：不殺生、不偷盜、不邪淫、不妄語、不飲酒。比丘與比丘尼持守好幾百條。第三種是品格。對迦羅摩人說的同一部經，接著說明了那些事為什麼導致傷害。一個被貪、瞋或癡所征服的人，會殺、會偷、會說謊。這三者稱為不善根；一個行為之所以不善，是因為它從這些根長出來（《增支部》3.69）。對這個教導最著名的總結，把第三股線放在最後，由它把另外兩股收攏起來：「諸惡莫作，眾善奉行，自淨其意，是諸佛教」（《法句經》183）。

2 · In standard form · 寫成標準形式

The case for reading it as virtue ethics 把它讀成德行倫理學的理由

3 · The nearest Western views · 西方最接近的說法

Three theories, three fits 三種理論，三種合身的程度

The same structure · 同樣的結構

Aristotle 亞里斯多德c. 330 BCE

Aristotle holds that the good for a human being is a life of excellent activity, that the excellences are settled traits acquired by practice, and that a person of practical wisdom sees what to do without consulting a rule. Each point has a Buddhist counterpart. The path is a training. The precepts are called training rules, and one “undertakes” them as one takes up an exercise. Feeling is to be educated and not merely overruled, so that the trained person no longer wants to harm. And the tradition has its own word for the trained perception of what a situation calls for: skill. Wholesome acts are kusala, skillful, the word used for a good craftsman.

亞里斯多德主張：對人而言的善，是一種卓越活動的人生；那些卓越是靠練習得來的穩定特質；有實踐智慧的人不查閱規則，就看得出該怎麼做。每一點在佛教都有對應。道是一種訓練。戒被稱為「學處」；人是「受持」它們，就像接下一項練習。情感要被教育，而不只是被壓過去，使受過訓練的人不再「想要」傷害。而這個傳統，對於「看出一個情境需要什麼」的那種受過訓練的知覺，有它自己的詞：善巧。善的行為是 kusala，「善巧的」；這個詞是用來形容一位好工匠的。

The same scope · 同樣的範圍

Mill and the utilitarians 彌爾與效益主義者1863

Utilitarianism shares the Buddha’s starting point, that suffering is bad wherever it occurs, and his scope, which is every being that can feel. The Mahāyāna comes closest. The bodhisattva vows to work for the liberation of all beings, and the eighth-century teacher Śāntideva argues, as a utilitarian would, that my suffering has no special claim because it is mine: suffering is to be removed simply because it is suffering. Stories in which a bodhisattva breaks a precept to prevent greater harm point the same way. What is missing is the sum. No Buddhist text adds the happiness of some to offset the misery of others, and the act that breaks a rule is judged by the purity of the compassion behind it.

效益主義跟佛陀有同樣的出發點：苦不管發生在哪裡，都是壞的；也有同樣的範圍：每一個能感受的眾生。大乘最接近它。菩薩發願為一切眾生的解脫而努力；八世紀的論師寂天，像效益主義者會做的那樣論證：我的苦，並不因為它是我的就有特別的地位；苦之所以應當被除去，僅僅因為它是苦。那些菩薩為了阻止更大的傷害而破戒的故事，指向同一個方向。缺少的是那筆總帳。沒有任何佛典把某些人的幸福加起來，去抵銷另一些人的悲慘；而那個破戒的行為，是依背後那份悲心的純淨程度來評判的。

The furthest · 最遠的

Immanuel Kant 康德1785

The precepts look like Kantian duties, and both teachers hold that every person counts and that one must not make an exception of oneself. The resemblance does not go deep. Kant’s moral law is a command of reason, binding whatever one feels, and an act has moral worth only when done from duty. The Buddha issues no commands. A precept is a resolution that a person makes because he sees where its breach would lead, and its worth lies in the state of mind it expresses. Kant distrusts inclination. The Buddhist path aims to transform it. And Kant’s ethics rests on the autonomy of a rational self, the very thing the teaching of not-self takes apart.

戒看起來像康德式的義務；而兩位老師都主張每一個人都算數、都主張不可以把自己當成例外。這份相似並不深。康德的道德法則是理性的命令，不管一個人感受如何都有約束力；而一個行為只有在「出於義務」而做的時候才有道德價值。佛陀不下命令。一條戒，是一個人因為看出「違犯它會導向哪裡」而立下的決心；它的價值，在於它所表現的心的狀態。康德不信任愛好。佛教的道，目標是轉化它。還有，康德的倫理學建立在一個理性自我的自律之上；而那正是無我的教導所拆解的東西。

4 · Verdict · 判定

Who is closest, and where the likeness ends 誰最接近，相似到哪裡為止

Aristotle is the closest. Buddhist ethics and his share a shape: a conception of the best condition of a person, an account of the traits that make it up, a method of acquiring them by practice, and a trust in trained judgment over formula. Utilitarianism shares the Buddha’s motive and his reach, and it captures something real in the Mahāyāna. Kant shares the least.

亞里斯多德最接近。佛教倫理與他的倫理學有同樣的形狀：一個關於「人的最佳狀態」的構想；對構成這種狀態的特質的說明；一套靠練習取得這些特質的方法；以及對受過訓練的判斷、而不是對公式的信任。效益主義共有佛陀的動機與範圍，並且抓住了大乘裡某些真實的東西。康德共有的最少。

The likeness to Aristotle ends at four places. First, the self. Aristotle’s ethics is about my flourishing, and the virtues are good because they make my life go well. The Buddha teaches that the self whose life this is cannot be found, and the end of the path is described as the end of clinging to it. Second, scope. Aristotle’s virtues are those of a free male citizen of a Greek city. The Buddha’s concern extends to slaves, women, animals, and enemies. Third, the list. Aristotle counts proper pride and well-aimed anger as virtues, and the Buddha counts neither. He admits no right amount of hatred. Compassion and non-attachment, which are central for the Buddha, are not on Aristotle’s list at all. Fourth, the setting. For the Buddha acts have results that follow the agent beyond this life, by a law that no one administers. Aristotle’s ethics is complete within one lifetime.

跟亞里斯多德的相似，在四個地方到了盡頭。第一，自我。亞里斯多德的倫理學談的是「我的」興旺；德行之所以好，是因為它們使我的人生過得好。佛陀教導：這個人生所屬的那個「我」是找不到的；而道的終點，被描述為對它的執取的止息。第二，範圍。亞里斯多德的德行，是一座希臘城邦裡自由男性公民的德行。佛陀的關懷延伸到奴隸、女性、動物與敵人。第三，清單。亞里斯多德把恰當的自豪與瞄得準的憤怒算作德行；佛陀兩者都不算。他不承認瞋有「恰當的分量」。而對佛陀來說居於核心的悲與無著，根本不在亞里斯多德的清單上。第四，背景。對佛陀來說，行為的果報會跟著行為者越過這一生，依循一條沒有任何人在執行的法則。亞里斯多德的倫理學，在一生之內就是完整的。

Side by side · 並排比較

Four answers to five questions 五個問題，四種回答

	The Buddha佛陀	Aristotle亞里斯多德	Mill彌爾	Kant康德
What makes an act good?什麼使一個行為是善的？	It springs from non-greed, non-hatred, non-delusion and leads away from suffering它出自無貪、無瞋、無癡，並且導離苦	It is what a person of virtue and practical wisdom would do它是有德而具實踐智慧的人會做的事	It produces the most happiness for all affected它為所有受影響者產生最多的幸福	It is done from duty, on a maxim that can be a universal law它是出於義務而做的，所依的準則可以成為普遍法則
What is the final good?最終的善是什麼？	Awakening: the end of the three roots and of suffering覺悟：三根與苦的止息	Flourishing: a complete life of excellent activity興旺：卓越活動的完整一生	The greatest total happiness最大的幸福總量	A good will, and happiness in proportion to it善的意志，以及與之相稱的幸福
Whose good counts?誰的善算數？	All sentient beings一切有情	Oneself, one’s friends, one’s city自己、朋友、城邦	All sentient beings, equally一切有感知者，一律平等	All rational beings一切理性存在者
What are rules for?規則是做什麼用的？	Training undertaken voluntarily; a raft自願受持的訓練；一艘筏	Rough guides. Judgment decides粗略的指引；由判斷來決定	Summaries of what usually works best「通常什麼最行得通」的摘要	Commands of reason without exception理性的命令，沒有例外
What is the place of feeling?情感的位置在哪裡？	To be transformed: loving-kindness and compassion are cultivated要被轉化：慈與悲是修出來的	To be educated to the right amount要被教育到恰當的分量	What ultimately matters, as pleasure and pain作為苦樂，它是最終要緊的東西	Not to be relied on. Worth lies in duty靠不住；價值在於義務

5 · The step the Dharma takes further · 佛法多走的一步

Ethics as the first of three trainings 倫理作為三學的第一學

In every Western theory ethics is a subject complete in itself. In the Buddha’s teaching it is the first third of a path. Ethical conduct comes first because a mind troubled by remorse cannot settle. Concentration is built on that calm, and wisdom on concentration. Then the order turns back on itself. The person who sees, as the previous pages in this series described, that there is no fixed owner of experience has lost the main reason anyone has for putting himself first. Kindness becomes easier because the wall it had to climb is lower. The tradition accordingly treats ethics both as the precondition of insight and as its natural expression, and it has practical methods for each stage: the precepts, the meditations on loving-kindness and compassion, and the analysis of the self.

在每一種西方理論裡，倫理學都是一門本身就完整的學問。在佛陀的教導裡，它是一條道路的前三分之一。戒排在最前面，因為一顆被悔恨攪擾的心定不下來。定建立在那份平靜上，慧建立在定上。然後，這個次第又折回它自己。一個人如果像這個系列前幾頁所描述的那樣，看出經驗並沒有一個固定的擁有者，他就失去了任何人把自己擺在第一位的主要理由。仁慈變得比較容易，因為它本來要翻過的那道牆變矮了。因此，這個傳統既把倫理當作智慧的前提，也把它當作智慧的自然流露；而它對每一個階段都有實際的方法：戒、慈心與悲心的禪修，以及對自我的分析。

This is why some scholars, Jay Garfield among them, say that the debate over labels misses the point. Buddhist ethics, on their reading, is chiefly concerned with changing how a person perceives: seeing others as fellow sufferers and oneself as one being among many. Right action follows from right seeing. Whether or not that is the whole story, it explains why the Buddha could teach ethics for forty-five years without once stating a criterion of right action.

這就是為什麼有些學者（加菲爾德是其中之一）說，這場關於「標籤」的辯論沒有抓到重點。照他們的讀法，佛教倫理首要關切的，是改變一個人「怎麼看」：把別人看成同樣在受苦的眾生，把自己看成眾多生命當中的一個。對的行為，從對的看見而來。不管那是不是全部的真相，它解釋了為什麼佛陀可以教導倫理四十五年，卻一次也沒有陳述過「對的行為」的判準。

6 · How to say it to a Western audience · 對西方人怎麼講

Words that carry the wrong religion with them 夾帶著別的宗教的那些詞

English moral vocabulary was shaped by Christianity, and several of its commonest words bring assumptions the Dharma does not make. “Commandment” implies someone who commands. The precepts are undertakings, and the formula for each is “I undertake the training rule to refrain from…” “Sin” implies an offense against God that calls for forgiveness. The Buddhist terms are “unwholesome” or “unskillful,” which describe an act by its roots and its results, as one would describe bad carpentry. “Good and evil” suggests two powers at war, and “skillful and unskillful” suggests competence, which is nearer the mark. “Karma” is heard as fate or as cosmic reward and punishment. It means action, and the teaching is that intentional acts shape the one who does them, with no judge involved. “Merit” can sound like a bank balance, and is better introduced as the strength that good habits build.

英文的道德語彙是被基督教塑造的；其中幾個最常用的詞，帶來了佛法並不作的預設。commandment（誡命）蘊含了一位下命令者。戒是「受持」的；每一條的定式是「我受持不……的學處」。sin（罪）蘊含了對上帝的冒犯，需要赦免。佛教的用語是「不善」或「不善巧」；它們是依一個行為的根與果來描述它，就像描述一件差勁的木工。good and evil（善與惡）讓人想到兩股交戰的力量；skillful and unskillful（善巧與不善巧）讓人想到的是「能力」，比較接近靶心。karma 被聽成命運，或宇宙的賞罰。它的意思是「行為」；而教導說的是：有意圖的行為會塑造做它的人，其中並沒有法官。merit（功德）聽起來可能像銀行存款；比較好的介紹方式，是把它說成好習慣所累積的力量。

Sentences you can use 可以直接用的句子

The Buddha did not give commandments. He gave training rules, which a person takes up the way one takes up an exercise.
佛陀沒有頒布誡命。他給的是學處；一個人受持它們，就像接下一項練習。
An act is called unskillful when it comes from greed, hatred, or confusion, and it is recognized by the harm it leads to.
一個行為被稱為不善巧，是因為它出自貪、瞋或癡；而它是從它所導致的傷害被認出來的。
Before you act, the Buddha told his son, look at what you are about to do as you would look in a mirror, and ask whether it will hurt you or anyone else.
佛陀告訴他的兒子：行動之前，像照鏡子那樣看看你即將要做的事，問它會不會傷害你或任何別人。
Karma means action. What you do on purpose shapes what you become. Nobody is keeping score.
karma 的意思是行為。你有意去做的事，塑造你會成為什麼樣的人。沒有誰在記分。
Ethics comes first on the path for a practical reason: a mind full of regret cannot become calm.
倫理排在道的最前面，是出於一個實際的理由：一顆充滿悔恨的心靜不下來。
In Buddhism kindness is a skill. You practice it, and you get better at it.
在佛教裡，仁慈是一種技能。你練習它，然後越來越擅長。

Phrases to avoid 要避開的說法

“The five commandments of Buddhism.” 「佛教的五誡。」

No one commands them. Say “precepts” or “training rules,” and “undertake” in place of “obey.”

沒有誰在下命令。要說 precepts 或 training rules；用 undertake（受持），不用 obey（服從）。

“Bad karma is punishment for sin.” 「惡業是對罪的懲罰。」

There is no punisher and no sin. Say that harmful intentions leave their mark on the one who has them.

沒有懲罰者，也沒有 sin。要說：有害的意圖，會在懷著它的人身上留下痕跡。

“Buddhists must not kill.” 「佛教徒不准殺生。」

“Must not” is the language of law. Say that a Buddhist undertakes not to kill, and explain why.

must not 是法律的語言。要說：佛教徒「受持」不殺，並且說明為什麼。

Three languages · 三語對照

The vocabulary, in Chinese, Pāli, Sanskrit, and English 術語：中文、巴利文、梵文、英文

中文	Pāli	Sanskrit	English
戒	sīla	śīla	ethical conduct
善／不善	kusala / akusala	kuśala / akuśala	wholesome, skillful / unwholesome, unskillful
學處	sikkhāpada	śikṣāpada	training rule, precept
三不善根	akusala-mūla	akuśala-mūla	the three unwholesome roots
貪・瞋・癡	lobha, dosa, moha	lobha, dveṣa, moha	greed, hatred, delusion
思	cetanā	cetanā	intention
業	kamma	karma	action
福	puñña	puṇya	merit
慈	mettā	maitrī	loving-kindness
悲	karuṇā	karuṇā	compassion
三學	tisso sikkhā	triśikṣā	the three trainings
方便善巧	upāya-kosalla	upāya-kauśalya	skill in means

Reading check · 理解測驗

Did it land? 讀懂了嗎

1. What test did the Buddha give his son Rāhula?

2. Why is an act called unwholesome in the discourses?

3. What is the main reason for classing Buddhist ethics as a virtue ethics?

4. Where does the likeness to Aristotle end most sharply?

5. Why is “commandment” a misleading word for a precept?

Write · 你怎麼講？

Explain the first precept to a Western friend in four sentences, without using “must,” “sin,” or “commandment.”
用四個句子向一位西方朋友解釋第一條戒，不要用 must、sin 或 commandment。
Someone says: “Karma means that people who suffer deserve it.” Write a reply of about 100 words.
有人說：「karma 的意思就是受苦的人活該。」寫一段大約 100 個英文字的回應。
Use the mirror test from the advice to Rāhula on one thing you said today. What did you find?
用給羅睺羅的那個「鏡子檢驗」，檢查你今天說過的一句話。你發現了什麼？

Go further · 延伸