Search found 65 matches

by tobes
Sat Mar 23, 2013 12:58 am
Forum: Sīla
Topic: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?
Replies: 492
Views: 129545

Re: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?

Cittasanto wrote:

where was that assumption?

The assumption is that individual intellectual property rights ought to be prioritised over a global commons, because that is the current social norm.

Isn't this your position?

:anjali:
by tobes
Sat Mar 23, 2013 12:52 am
Forum: Sīla
Topic: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?
Replies: 492
Views: 129545

Re: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?

where did I say that, please re-read and look at what I mention. I apologise if I have misread you. You seemed to be suggesting that if there is moral dilemma between fighting for the state or preserving the precept not to kill, one should decide in favour of "breaking the precept." What ...
by tobes
Sat Mar 23, 2013 12:35 am
Forum: Sīla
Topic: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?
Replies: 492
Views: 129545

Re: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?

For example, you posit a distinction between private and public goods - which is a liberal distinction - and assume this to be immutable. But is it? Actually, in political economy this is highly contested, and it is not clear where a Buddhist position might sit in relation to that contestation. I d...
by tobes
Sat Mar 23, 2013 12:27 am
Forum: Sīla
Topic: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?
Replies: 492
Views: 129545

Re: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?

What the moral Buddhist must do is determine the relationship between the demands of the precepts and the variability of particular social-political norms. For example, if you live in a state which commits to a pernicious war, and conscripts you to fight in it, you ought to uphold the precept not t...
by tobes
Sat Mar 23, 2013 12:18 am
Forum: Sīla
Topic: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?
Replies: 492
Views: 129545

Re: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?

The precepts fall into two groups that which are worldly rules and rules connected directly to the practice. The Lay precepts are worded quite openly because they are minimum standards, not hard and fast detailed rules applicable in every situation from conception. Out of the five precepts the firs...
by tobes
Fri Mar 22, 2013 11:06 pm
Forum: Sīla
Topic: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?
Replies: 492
Views: 129545

Re: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?

I find the appeal to 'logical common sense' and in the post before the appeal to 'social norms' pretty unsatisfactory. Can you show how social norms does not apply to the precepts and would not be covered here. as an example the intellectual property rights. The internet is a privilage not a right ...
by tobes
Fri Mar 22, 2013 5:51 am
Forum: Sīla
Topic: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?
Replies: 492
Views: 129545

Re: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?

You sound like someone who's just trying to rationalize theft with clever arguments. In the end you're only fooling yourself. It is questionable what counts as theft from Buddhist POV. Copying is not theft because it does not deprive someone of original copy. It is not like you sneaked in someone's...
by tobes
Thu Mar 21, 2013 10:06 pm
Forum: Sīla
Topic: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?
Replies: 492
Views: 129545

Re: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?

You sound like someone who's just trying to rationalize theft with clever arguments. In the end you're only fooling yourself. It is questionable what counts as theft from Buddhist POV. Copying is not theft because it does not deprive someone of original copy. It is not like you sneaked in someone's...
by tobes
Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:22 am
Forum: Sīla
Topic: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?
Replies: 492
Views: 129545

Re: Does illegal downloading violate the 2nd precept?

I think we need to ask 'what is a property right?' in the contemporary, liberal-market sense of the term - and how does that connect (or not) with the 2nd precept? People who argue that downloading is "illegal" are predicating those claims on a concept of intellectual property. Such a conc...
by tobes
Wed Aug 17, 2011 10:52 am
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Pali vs. English
Replies: 52
Views: 9585

Re: Pali vs. English

My view is that English is a very expressive language. I think that any idea which can be expressed in Pali can also be expressed in English. If people think this is incorrect then I would like to hear reasons why they think that English is not up to the task. This idea for this topic is from anoth...
by tobes
Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:22 am
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Hahayana?
Replies: 23
Views: 5671

Re: Hahayana?

"Authenticity" is the dangerous concept here, on all fronts. Everyone wants to claim that their school/lineage/canon/tradition/method is the **authentic** Buddhism. But we're 2,500 years away from the Buddha: it is actually quite a ridiculous concern. Reminds me a bit of people trying to f...
by tobes
Mon Jul 11, 2011 8:05 am
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Difference between not-self, non-self and no-self?
Replies: 26
Views: 5499

Re: Difference between not-self, non-self and no-self?

I The immediate temptation is to consider the term anatta (or skt: Anatman ) as a direct ontological negation of Upanishadic ideas of substantial or permanent self-existence. This is certainly given by the general context of the linguistic term anatta (where an is the negation, of atta , the self),...
by tobes
Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:29 am
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: Difference between not-self, non-self and no-self?
Replies: 26
Views: 5499

Re: Difference between not-self, non-self and no-self?

I think it's important to consider that in discourses such as the Anatta-Lakkhana Sutta , the Buddha's use of 'anatta" is always in the context of certain subjective processes. And the clear implication is that they do not giving rise to a self. That is, anatta is not really a stand alone signi...
by tobes
Fri Jul 08, 2011 8:30 am
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: What the Buddha did not teach - Christopher Titmuss
Replies: 146
Views: 25693

Re: What the Buddha did not teach - Christopher Titmuss

tobes said: Generally a good list, but it strikes me as problematic that he attributes precise semantic meanings to what the Buddha said in Pali..... Even though, it is well established that the Buddha did not speak in Pali. Can you link to where it is ''well established''? - and hopefully it will ...
by tobes
Fri Jul 08, 2011 6:31 am
Forum: Connections to Other Paths
Topic: What the Buddha did not teach - Christopher Titmuss
Replies: 146
Views: 25693

Re: What the Buddha did not teach - Christopher Titmuss

Generally a good list, but it strikes me as problematic that he attributes precise semantic meanings to what the Buddha said in Pali ..... Even though, it is well established that the Buddha did not speak in Pali. For example: 24 No-Self. The Buddha remained in noble silence when asked whether there...