ABSTRACT
In morality, the Buddhist values of compassion, loving-kindness, generosity and patience are commonly put forward as well suited to a liberal moral outlook that many in the modern world embrace. Moreover, advocates of Buddhist modernism sometimes suggest that Buddhism is compatible with a form of individualism in which the experience, reason or intuition of each individual person may be regarded as a source of insight, understanding or wisdom. Some scholars have argued that Indian Buddhist ethical thought is committed to a form of consequentialism, a normative moral theory that was expressly stated and developed only in the modern era. Insofar as scholars have claimed that Indian Buddhists were committed to consequentialism, their claim may be seen as an instance of Buddhist modernism: they are emphasizing the compatibility of Buddhism with a common feature of modern thought. One way of portraying Western moral philosophy would be in terms of its development and transformations since the period of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
