The Bhagavadgītā’s Three Approaches to Animal Ethics
摘要
The Bhagavadgītā, as a foundational presentation of bhakti-yoga, the yoga of devotion, articulates three main dimensions of divinity, namely, as brahman, paramātman, and bhagavān. In this chapter, I suggest a correlation and enrichment—from a devotional theistic perspective—of these three dimensions with three broad approaches to animal ethics following Matthew Calarco’s typology. Thus, realization of brahman affirms metaphysical grounding to the identity approach; realization of paramātman engages with the difference approach, and realization of bhagavān gives space in the indistinction approach for shifting away from anthropocentric thinking while validating a divine basis in care ethics.