Ethics (and Dungeons and Dragons)

That title should really be “Dungeons and Dragons (and Ethics).” Or “D&D, Star Wars, and Cats (with some Buddhism sprinkled in).” In our first episode for 2016, we wanted to begin a conversation about social ethics — somehow we got sidetracked by Dungeons and Dragons, the classic role playing game that we both grew up with. Seriously, though. Is there a way to reconcile the D&D ethical and moral alignment system with Buddhist ethics? Unsurprisingly, we go off on several tangents before getting to the notion of absolute good and evil that seems implicit in the D&D system and that (some) Buddhist traditions seek to transcend. And we end, of course, talking about cats. Happy new year! Image of Tempel Kenninji in Kyoto, Japan copyright: © 2010, Christian Kaden Licence: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 ID: DSC02893