Is Compassionate Killing Psychologically Impossible?
ISSN 1076-9005
Volume 23, 2016
On Compassionate Killing and the Abhidhamma’s “Psychological Ethics”
Damien Keown
University of London Goldsmiths
Is compassionate killing really psychologically impossible, as the Abhidhamma claims? Previously I discussed a Vinaya case that seemed to show the contrary. Reviewing my conclusions in the light of commentarial literature, Rupert Gethin disagreed and restated the Abhidhamma position that killing can never be motivated by compassion. This paper supports my original conclusions and argues further that the Vinaya case reveals underlying problems with the Abhidhamma’s “psychological ethics.”