Buddhism and Animal Ethics

This book offers the first systematic philosophical account of animal ethics grounded in Buddhist thought. While Buddhist vegetarianism and compassion are often discussed in historical and popular contexts, no scholarly work has yet articulated a comprehensive Buddhist ethical theory that addresses contemporary questions about our treatment of nonhuman animals. Colin H. Simonds fills this critical gap, drawing on Tibetan Mahāyāna traditions to argue that the alleviation of duḥkha—suffering—logically extends to all sentient beings.The book develops a robust Buddhist animal ethic by examining the tradition’s epistemological foundation, ethical centring of the sentient being, concepts of compassion and human exceptionalism, and notions of rebirth, kinship, interdependence, and moral phenomenology. Simonds then applies this framework to urgent ethical issues including eating animals, industrial agriculture, animal testing, ritual animal release, and animal captivity. The result is a groundbreaking intervention that challenges human‑centred assumptions and reframes Buddhist ethics for a more‑than‑human world. Bridging Buddhist studies, philosophy, and animal ethics, this book will be essential reading for scholars, students, and practitioners engaged in Buddhist ethics, religion and animals, environmental humanities, and applied ethics.