Category Archives: Network Stimulus

Network Stimulus Ethics 5: Provisional Rules

Ethics, Middle Way Philosophy, Network Stimulus

The next main meeting of the Middle Way Network will be at 7pm UK time on Sun 3rd Jan 2021. This will be the fifth of our series of talks and discussions on ethics, and the last of three sessions where we will be looking at the three classic approaches to morality in turn: virtue ethics, ethics seeking good consequences, and principle-based ethics. We will be asking what a Middle Way approach implies for what we consider to be ‘good’: is it becoming a better person, fulfilling good goals, or obeying the right principles? Or is it all of these? If so, how do we fit them together when they sometimes contradict each other?

Following principles or rules is the traditional way that many people think about ethics. But where do we get the rules from and how do we know if we have the right ones? The Middle Way approach suggests that we should never take a rule absolutely. Often absolute rules create unnecessary conflict and rigidity. But that need not prevent us from developing provisional rules that we can justify from experience. In this session we’ll be exploring the ways that principles or precepts can be useful for individual practice, and how provisional rules are also necessary in society.

There’ll be a short talk on this topic, followed by questions, then discussion in regionalised breakout groups. Some other regionalised groups will meet at other times. If you’re interested in joining us but are not already part of the Network, please see the general Network page to sign up. To catch up on the previous session, on consequential ethics, please see this post. If you would like catch up more with basic aspects of the Middle Way approach, we are also holding a reading group (next on 10th Jan) which will do this – please contact Jim (at) middlewaysociety.org if you want to join this.

Here is the actual video from this session:

Suggested reflection questions

  1. What’s the history of your attitude to rules? Are you a rule-follower or a rule-breaker? How well do you think this has served you?
  2. Have you practised (or would you like to practise) any provisional rules or precepts? What issues do you think their provisionality might raise?
  3. What advantages do you think there are in a deontological (i.e. principle-based) way of thinking about ethics, by comparison with thinking in terms of consequences or virtues? How far might it be helpful for you?

Suggested further reading

Middle Way Philosophy 1: The Path of Objectivity 7.i (see pdf of Omnibus edition on Researchgate)

Truth on the Edge section 6

Network Stimulus: Ethics 3 – Cultivating Virtue

Ethics, Middle Way Philosophy, Network Stimulus

The next main meeting of the Middle Way Network will be at 7pm UK time on Sun 6th Dec 2020. This will be the third of our series of talks and discussions on ethics. In this and the following two sessions we will be looking at the three classic approaches to morality in turn: virtue ethics, ethics seeking good consequences, and principle-based ethics. We will be asking what a Middle Way approach implies for what we consider to be ‘good’: is it becoming a better person, fulfilling good goals, or obeying the right principles? Or is it all of these? If so, how do we fit them together when they sometimes contradict each other?

Virtue ethics, as the focus of this first session, is the approach to ethics that starts with the idea that we should become better (more virtuous) people. A ‘virtue’ is basically a good habit, and the idea of a practice, such as mindfulness, seems to be very much about cultivating good habits. However, we need to think about what makes a habit ‘good’, and the problem is that different groups have different assumptions about that ‘good’. Integration will be suggested as the key idea that can help us decide what is a virtuous habit for us on our specific path. However, developing good habits also doesn’t automatically make our decisions right, and virtue ethics still leaves us needing to make judgements about what to do in specific situations.

‘Allegory of Human Life’ by Cagnacci

There’ll be a short talk on this topic, followed by questions, then discussion in regionalised breakout groups. Some other regionalised groups will meet at other times. If you’re interested in joining us but are not already part of the Network, please see the general Network page to sign up. To catch up on the previous session, on evil, please see this post. If you would like catch up more with more basic aspects of the Middle Way approach, we are also holding a reading group (next on 13th Dec) which will do this – please contact Jim (at) middlewaysociety.org if you want to join this.

Here is the video from the session:

Suggested reflection questions

  1. What virtues do you most value and most want to cultivate?
  2. Are there any tensions between cultivating those virtues and other needs or goals in your life? How do you think you can use the Middle Way to help resolve these?

Suggested further reading

Middle Way Philosophy 1: The Path of Objectivity 7.e (see pdf of Omnibus edition on Researchgate)

The Buddha’s Middle Way section 5 (‘Interpreting the Eightfold Path’)

Blog post on Aristotle

Alasdair MacIntyre After Virtue (pp.186-203 is the interesting bit!)

Network Stimulus: Ethics 1 – Feeling Responsible

Ethics, Middle Way Philosophy, Network Stimulus

The next main meeting of the Middle Way Network will be at 7pm UK time on Sunday 8th November. This will start off our new series of topics, on the Middle Way applied to ethics and politics, with the topic ‘Feeling Responsible’. The practice of the Middle Way is closely related to developing our sense of responsibility, but it’s important to distinguish this from the social institution of holding people responsible. The latter has an important role in society, but it is easy to treat it absolutely by applying the assumptions of total freewill or determinism, and thus interfere with the actual development of felt responsibility.

There’ll be a short talk on this topic, followed by questions, then discussion in regionalised breakout groups. Some other regionalised groups will meet at other times. If you’re interested in joining us but are not already part of the Network, please see the general Network page to sign up. To catch up on the previous session, on integration of belief, please see this post. If you would like catch up more with more basic aspects of the Middle Way approach, we are also holding a reading group on 15th Nov which will do this – please contact Jim (at) middlewaysociety.org if you want to join this.

There is already a video on responsibility which will be embedded below, and you might like to watch either before the session or afterwards for further background:

Here is the video of the actual talk and Q&A on the Network session:

Some suggested reflection questions:

  1. What are some examples of things you feel responsible for, and how do you relate to that sense of responsibility?
  2. Are there any things on the edge of your sense of responsibility, where you feel you could helpfully stretch that sense a little?
  3. What conditions or practices do you think have helped you develop your sense of responsibility in the past?
  4. Are there some things you definitely don’t feel responsible for, or even perhaps that it’s a bad idea to feel responsible for?

Suggested further reading

Truth on the Edge ch.4 ‘Maximising Responsibility’

Middle Way Philosophy 1: 7b ‘Responsibility’ (see Researchgate for the full text on pdf as part of the Omnibus Edition)

Network Stimulus 12: Practice – Integration of Belief

Middle Way Philosophy, Network Stimulus, Objectivity training, Wisdom

The next main meeting of the Middle Way Network will be on Sun 25th October 2020 at 7pm UK time on Zoom. This is the last of a series of three talks and discussions focusing on the nature of Middle Way practice: that is, how we can create the conditions for better judgement overcoming conflict in the long-term. We will be looking in turn at the integration of desire, meaning and belief as interdependent aspects of practice, linked to a potentially wide range of specific practices including meditation, the arts, and critical thinking.

There’ll be a short talk on practice as integration of belief, followed by questions, then discussion in regionalised breakout groups. Some other regionalised groups will meet at other times. If you’re interested in joining us but are not already part of the Network, please see the general Network page to sign up. To catch up on the previous session, on integration of meaning, please see this post.

Integration of Belief

Integration of belief is the most important and most lasting form of integration, and the basis of wisdom and compassion. To develop these qualities we need to be able to avoid absolute beliefs but engage with provisional ones. We need to sift absolute beliefs from provisional ones in areas such as religion and politics, but there are also many other everyday ways of practising integration of belief in relation to cognitive biases. A range of practices can help us to develop integration of belief, but especially those that cultivate wider awareness of our beliefs specifically – such as individual reflection, or study and discussion in which critical thinking is applied.

Other resources

There is already an introductory video (21 mins) on integration of belief as part of Middle Way Philosophy, which is embedded below. You might like to watch this for an initial orientation before the session. This is relatively long and detailed in comparison to some of the other introductory videos we have used. A somewhat different approach will be taken in the session.

Here is the video from the actual Network talk:

Some suggested reflection questions:

1. Think of an example of an absolute belief that you have found difficult to integrate (it has caused conflict for you).

2. How can you apply the five principles of Middle Way Philosophy to this belief and its opposite (scepticism, agnosticism, provisionality, incrementality, integration)?

3. When you have avoided absolute beliefs in this example, what are the associated provisional beliefs and meaning, and how might they be used to develop a more integrated belief?

Suggested further reading

Migglism section 4 (5 in the e-book): ‘Critical Thinking’

Middle Way Philosophy 4: The Integration of Belief (especially section 2). See this page for a summary of the sections, and Researchgate for the full text on pdf as part of the Omnibus. From the end of this book you may also find the glossary of biases, fallacies and metaphysical beliefs useful.

Other video resources

The ‘mistakes we make in thinking’ video series goes into 6 key areas of bias where we might develop absolute beliefs, and how we could respond to them.

Network Stimulus 11: Practice – Integration of Meaning

Meaning, Middle Way Philosophy, Network Stimulus

The next main meeting of the Middle Way Network will be on Sun 11th October 2020 at 7pm UK time on Zoom. This is the second of a series of three talks and discussions focusing on the nature of Middle Way practice: that is, how we can create the conditions for better judgement overcoming conflict in the long-term. We will be looking in turn at the integration of desire, meaning and belief as interdependent aspects of practice, linked to a potentially wide range of specific practices including meditation, the arts, and critical thinking.

There’ll be a short talk on practice as integration of meaning, followed by questions, then discussion in regionalised breakout groups. Some other regionalised groups will meet at other times. If you’re interested in joining us but are not already part of the Network, please see the general Network page to sign up. To catch up on the previous session, on integration of desire, please see this post.

Practice and the Integration of Meaning

Integration of meaning is important to Middle Way practice, because it provides us with the resources we need to draw on (in the development of synaptic links in our brains or associative awareness in our minds, to consider new alternative beliefs. To be able to think differently from the absolute assumptions we may have fallen into, we need to develop the capacity to think differently by understanding and relating to alternative symbols.

It is likely that we already engage in some practices that help to integrate meaning – for instance the arts, education, reading. However, recognising their role helps us to value these practices sufficiently, and see how they inter-relate to other aspects of the process of integration.



Other resources

There is already an introductory video (22 mins) on integration of meaning as part of Middle Way Philosophy, which is embedded below. You might like to watch this for an initial orientation before the session. This is relatively long and detailed in comparison to some of the other introductory videos we have used. A somewhat different approach will be taken in the session.

Here is the video from the actual Network meeting stimulus:

Suggested discussion questions

1. Give your own examples of integration of meaning that you have developed in the past: these could be internal or external, predominantly cognitive or predominantly emotive.

2. Have you ever experienced temporary integration of meaning? How did you benefit from it?

3. In what ways do you increase your stock of symbols?

4. In what sorts of situation in your experience would it be helpful to clarify, and how would this add to integration of meaning?

5. In what ways could tolerance of ambiguity help you to integrate meaning, and in what sorts of circumstances do you most need to practise it?

Suggested further reading

Migglism section 4, ‘The Arts’

Middle Way Philosophy 3: The Integration of Meaning. (See this link for a summary, this link for full text as part of the Omnibus edition)

The Meaning of the Body by Mark Johnson (University of Chicago Press, 2007) on the embodied meaning approach