Buddhism and Kant
The Philosophies of Buddhism and Immanuel Kant:
An Examination and Comparison of Similar Beliefs
Major world religions and the philosophies that accompany them are quite numerous. With the help of the internet, anyone can research and find what certain philosophies state and how various religions correlate to one's own beliefs. In this way, he or she can adopt new beliefs, or strengthen existing ones. The study of philosophy, from Plato to Kierkegaard, from Buddha to Mao and from the temples of tribes in Africa, is a very complex and interesting field. In this paper, I will examine two philosophies: Buddhism and Kantianism. These philosophies are important, for both the aims that they promote and for their close links and similarities that are adopted by hundreds of thousands, and I will attempt to prove them both as important and similar in the central argument of this paper.
Buddhism: Background
Buddhism is one of the most widely practiced world religions, with a complex history and a similarly complex philosophy. The founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, lived before the Common Era and was the son of an Indian king. It is said that this man led an extravagant life, as he was of a high caste. However, he grew bored of his royal extravagance and decided to find meaning in his life. He thus ventured out into the world, to find peace and understanding. Eventually Gautama disrobed himself of his previous existence and became a monk, in an attempt to understand spirituality and not just the world around him. As a monk, Gautama finally found the answers for which he was looking and spend the rest of his life preaching to those who would listen, the four noble truths. He also became known as Buddha, or the Enlightened One.
These four truths, as they are called, are the essence of Buddhism and what it teaches. This philosophy recognizes that all our earthly paths lead to suffering, but that this suffering has a purpose, and has an end. In order to deal with suffering, one must accept the truths of life (aging, sickness and death), and make a sort of plan, composed of the four truths, to deal with suffering.
The first truth identifies suffering. The second truth, determines...
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