21 October 2024, 2.30pm - 4.00 pm
Classroom 22 (Cendana), Yale-NUS College
Much has been said about the transformative power of stories, especially in Buddhist ethics. After all, the Buddha’s enlightenment is arguably the most important narrative, and it is imbued with philosophical significance, least of all as a framework for one’s own pathway to enlightenment. As we pass what might possibly be the event horizon for irreversible climate change, it bears thinking about what narratives we currently have about the environment. Do they help us? What narrative can we tell about the environment? What narrative should we tell? And what does a Buddhist story about the environment look like?
Mak Rui Teng, Phoebe '22 is a Philosophy PhD student at the University of New Mexico. Their research interests lie in the intersection of Buddhist ethics and contemporary social change, and they are particularly interested in the project of imagining futures. Outside of doing readings, teaching, and battling seasonal allergies, Phoebe can be found writing love letters via snail mail to their friends.