UH Mānoa Philosophy Department
Graduate Student Essay Prize Competition Presentation

Karunā and Solidarity: The Brahmavihārā as a Civic Virtue

by David Simone, PhD Candidate

Date: Friday, April 17, 2027
Time: 2:30pm
Location: Sakamaki C-308

In this paper, I examine whether the Mādhyamaka Buddhist brahmavihārāa (virture) of karunā could function as the civic virtue of solidarity in a republican form of government. In particular, I propose a neo-Buddhist republicanism, distinct from the neo-Roman and Aristotelian traditions, in which solidarity provides the bonds necessary for a phenomenological reorientation of the populace toward the public good.