The Cockroach Paradox: Problems of Violence and Ethics in Taiwanese Buddhism

• In Event: Death, Politics, Violence, and Ritual: New Perspectives on Chinese Religions

Abstract

Anthropologists and philosophers have long debated the meaning of ‘ethics’ and ‘morality’.  Typically these debates focus on behavior versus belief, or the significance of rules in contrast with other forms of moral and ethical cognition.  Yet few studies have focused on the significance of paradoxes: cases where people’s social and ethical values coexist in a state of conflict. This paper explores the moral paradox of pests in Taiwan’s humanistic Buddhist movements (renjian fojiao).  The first precept in Chinese Buddhism enjoins practitioners to “protect the lives of all living creatures”, which has fostered a vibrant culture of vegetarianism in contemporary Taiwan.  Buddhist organizations take a leadership role in the animal rights movement, sponsoring legislation against animal cruelty and financing rescue shelters for abandoned pets.  The ethic of non-violence defines what it means to be a Buddhist in contemporary Taiwan.  However, this ethic creates a paradox when it encounters the ‘problem’ of the simple cockroach.  Indeed, cockroaches (as well as wasps, snakes, mice, and other pests endemic to Taiwan’s ecology) are considered a danger to public health; Buddhist leaders view it as their role to protect their followers against them, which may include the ‘violence’ of extermination. What, then, is the socio-religious status of cockroaches and other pests, which, like all creatures, are thought to contain a ‘Buddha essence’? Drawing on extensive interviews and participant observation with Buddhist leaders and practitioners in Taiwan, this paper explores the role of moral paradoxes in illuminating the cultural development of religious philosophy.

Author

• Mireille Mazard, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity