Karuṇā & Solidarity: The Brahmavihārā as a Civic Virtue?

In this paper, I argue that the Mādhyamaka Buddhist brahmavihārā (virtue) of karuṇā could function as the civic virtue of solidarity (rather than compassion) in a republican form of government. First, I elucidate the role of civic virtue in the neo-Roman republican tradition and that of the brahmavihārā of karuṇā in Śāntideva’s Bodhicaryāvatāra. Second, I discuss how karuṇā shares affinities with the broader concept of solidarity in Western thought and how Mādhyamaka Buddhism could address the issue of the “is-ought” gap that arises in theories of solidarity based on the mere fact of social interdependence. I show that this problem is avoided through the “Three Trainings,” based on a pratyakṣa (realization) of pratītyasamutpāda (interdependence). Finally, I discuss how karuṇā could function specifically as the civic virtue of solidarity, upholding the state’s legitimacy, and showing that karuṇā shares similar moral-psychological grounds (ālambana) with civic virtue in the European republican tradition.