Self and Desire as Seeds of Virtue

Abstract

According to Buddhist philosophies, recognizing the self as impermanent, changing, and interdependent is at the root of virtue. With this realization, desires shift away from inward self-cherishing and toward outward self-transcending. This altruistic outlook underlies virtuous action and flourishing. Our primary research question asks: 1) to what extent do people experience self-transcending and self-cherishing desires in everyday life, and 2) to what extent do these different desires predict behaviors and body physiology that underlie virtue and well-being. As highlighted by the SMV project, one challenge involves measuring both intention and action. To overcome this challenge, we propose a multi­methodological study that will integrate first­person experiences of desires, second­person reports from close others, and third­person laboratory measures of prosocial behavior and body physiology that underlie virtue and flourishing in the context of social relationships. We will use an “experience sampling” method delivered via a smartphone app to capture psychological desires in daily life. In the laboratory, we will examine if desires in daily life are related to prosocial behavior and physiological synchrony during face-to-face social interactions with a romantic partner. Theoretically, we anticipate that integration of Buddhist philosophy into Western psychology research will encourage more emphasis on the deep psychological desires that appear to continually drive behavior. Empirically, we predict that frequent self-transcending desires in daily life will be related to prosocial behavior and physiological synchrony during interactions with romantic partners. Going forward, this project will provide the foundation for future work examining how the moral self can be shaped through contemplative practice in everyday life.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

  • Only published works are available at libraries.

Similar books and articles

Welfare and Paradox.Robert Mabrito - 2013 - Journal of Philosophical Research 38:299-322.
Knowing One's Own Desires.Jonathan Webber - 2016 - In Daniel Dahlstrom, Andreas Elpidorou & Walter Hopp (eds.), Philosophy of Mind and Phenomenology: Conceptual and Empirical Approaches. Routledge. pp. 165-179.
Well -being and actual desires.Mark E. Lukas - 2005 - Dissertation, University of Massachusetts Amherst
A theory of love and sexual desire.James Giles - 1994 - Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 24 (4):339–357.
The problem of defective desires.Chris Heathwood - 2005 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 83 (4):487 – 504.
Freedom of the will and the concept of a person.Harry G. Frankfurt - 1971 - Journal of Philosophy 68 (1):5-20.
Plato's Symposium: the ethics of desire.Frisbee C. C. Sheffield - 2006 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Autonomy, Value, and Conditioned Desire.Robert Noggle - 1995 - American Philosophical Quarterly 32 (1):57 - 69.
Psychological dimensions of elenchus in the Gorgias.Richard D. Parry - 2015 - Archai: Revista de Estudos Sobre as Origens Do Pensamento Ocidental 14:65-76.
Desires, reasons, and causes. [REVIEW]Stephen Darwall - 2003 - Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 67 (2):436–443.
Normative Handlungsgründe.Peter Schaber - 1999 - Analyse & Kritik 21 (1):25-40.
Desire.Richard Swinburne - 1985 - Philosophy 60 (234):429 - 445.

Analytics

Added to PP
2016-08-18

Downloads
33 (#419,057)

6 months
3 (#445,838)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

No references found.

Add more references