Meditation and the Ethic of Autonomy
Rethinking Meditation September 14, 2023 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197661741.003.0010 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Meditation |
| Key points | Argues that the "situated autonomy" model of meditation and freedom is more convincing than the "inner citadel" model, contending that meditation involves complex dynamics of autonomy and submission, training and spontaneity, and deconditioning and reconditioning rather than producing an invulnerable interior space. |
Abstract
Abstract: In classical Buddhist literature, meditative practices were usually geared toward transcendent freedom, but they also served immanent purposes. In the West, the freedom that meditation leads to is often interpreted along lines of western theories of autonomy. There is a tension between the “inner citadel” model, in which meditation creates an interior space of invulnerability to external influence, thus allowing freedom to choose, decide, and act for oneself, and the “situated autonomy” model, which offers a more contextual notion of freedom and ethical agency as embodied, embedded in social contexts, and systemically intertwined with other individuals, social institutions, and political structures. This chapter argues that the latter is more convincing. On this model, meditation entails complex dynamics of autonomy and submission, training and spontaneity, deconditioning and reconditioning.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on meditation, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness: A proposed operational definition. | 2004 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mechanisms of mindfulness | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| How Does Mindfulness Meditation Work? Proposing Mechanisms of Action From a Conceptual and Neural Perspective | 2011 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for depression | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Self-awareness, self-regulation, and self-transcendence (S-ART): a framework for understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of mindfulness | 2012 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cites 14
- Intensive meditation training improves perceptual discrimination and sustained attention. Psychological Science June 1, 2010
- What does mindfulness really mean? A canonical perspective Contemporary Buddhism May 1, 2011
- On some definitions of mindfulness Contemporary Buddhism May 1, 2011
- Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience Numen 1995
- The Mindful Brain and Emotion Regulation in Mood Disorders The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry February 1, 2012
and 9 more in the library