天台性悪説の考察 : 仏教における悪の問題

In this paper I take up the problem of evil in Buddhism. There is a view, in Christian tradition for example, in which evil is regarded as a "lack" of good. According to this idea, all beings are good in general, but all creatures except God are incomplete, which is why there is a lack of good in the world. And since the world as a whole is complete, it must include these imperfections at all levels. The existence of evil is therefore explained with a view to God’s absoluteness.//In Buddhism, however, there is a totally different concept of evil. In this paper I approach Buddhism broadly as a thought system that negates any reductionism. What I refer to as reductionism is a tendency to explain all things as originating from an absolute existence alone. In contrast, Buddhism starts from interrelatedness and teaches interdependence of all things. An existence that transcends this network of interdependence, therefore, is not possible. If this premise is applied in practice, it will likely produce an original ethic.//The Tendai doctrine of inherent evil states that the buddha nature is basically evil, a claim that is said to be a distinctive characteristic of Tendai thought. It is worth noting that this view, according to which evil is something that should not be denied, has been considered as orthodox in Chinese and Japanese Tendai and that it has historically influenced Japanese "original enlightenment thought" (hongaku shisou).//In this paper I first offer a summary of the Tendai doctrine of inherent evil in a historic context and clarify the structure of this ethical view. I then attempt to connect this doctrine to issues arising from the context of criticism against Buddhism, such as the claim that Buddhism lacks morality and that its practitioners tend to neglect others.論文/Article