{"id":1201,"date":"2026-01-08T12:29:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T20:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/commons.bellevuecollege.edu\/wrussellpayne\/?p=1201"},"modified":"2026-01-08T12:30:05","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T20:30:05","slug":"critical-thinking-note-37-the-zen-of-logic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commons.bellevuecollege.edu\/wrussellpayne\/2026\/01\/08\/critical-thinking-note-37-the-zen-of-logic\/","title":{"rendered":"Critical Thinking Note 37: The Zen of Logic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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This will not be a post about the meditative aspects of constructing proofs in symbolic logic (doing proofs is probably not the sort of meditative activity Zen masters will recommend). I’m rather interested in the Buddhist notion of non-attachment and how it applies to critical thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhism maintains that the cause of all suffering is attachment. This is the Second Noble Truth of Buddhism (the First Noble Truth is just the observation that there is suffering). I think this applies to belief and opinion as well as other kinds of attachment. When we are attached to a belief, we are likely to feel threatened when it gets questioned by someone who thinks differently. Now ego is involved, and the conflict is not so much between ideas as between believers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see attachment in the sometimes-lauded attitude of being “true to your beliefs.” On the face of it this sounds like an endorsement of dogmatism. This is not a good thing. Dogmatic attachment can present an insurmountable obstacle to liberation from a false view. This can be a significant source of suffering in itself. Of course, attachment to a false belief can lead us to do irrational things. But even when no untoward practical consequences follow, dogmatic attachment to a belief breeds defensiveness and hostility towards those who think differently. This is its own form of suffering. So, as critical thinkers, we should not be “true to our beliefs.” We should instead be committed to following the better reasons where they lead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Third Noble Truth of Buddhism holds that the way to cease suffering is to relinquish attachment. And the Fourth Noble Truth recommends an Eightfold Path for achieving this. The first step on the Eightfold Path is Right Understanding, or right vision. Here Buddhism is directly concerned with developing a clear understanding of reality. \u2018a knowledge and vision of things as they really are<\/em>\u2019 (S.III,59). The Buddhist sutras go on to promulgate a number of more specific theses as parts of a true understanding of reality. These include recognizing the transitoriness of all things, the unity of self and world, and so forth. Critical thinkers may question the specific metaphysical principles that typify Buddhist world views, but Right Understanding endorses some clear critical thinking advice on the way to building a Buddhist understanding, including questioning assumptions and recognizing appearance as a fallible guide to truth. So, Buddhism incorporates a good deal of critical thinking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s one thing for Buddhism to support critical thinking. The more ambitious suggestion I’d like to advance is that critical thinking itself can be understood as a kind of intellectual Buddhist practice. Intellectually, non-attachment means being open-minded and thinking critically. We may still wind up holding beliefs when the evidence and reasons warrant this. But there is a difference between holding a belief and being attached to it. we can hold a belief and remain prepared to modify our assessment of it when we encounter new evidence or argument. It’s just the clinging part that leads to suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are critical thinkers to the degree that we are committed to following the better reason. When I engage another’s argument with the singular aim of evaluating it on its own merits, I am practicing non-attachment. It may be difficult for a person to stay in this space. I suspect many skilled critical thinkers may follow through on their commitment to evaluate an argument fairly and yet feel a pang of grief when they find an argument against a view the like compelling. Or just as likely, an advanced critical thinker may still feel some anxiety over how to defend the preferred position. And yet, I have seen mature professional philosophers accept the complete demolition of their argument with grace and equanimity. That’s pretty Zen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Personally, I have often found myself amused at discovering I’ve held some false philosophical opinion. A new philosophical insight can slap me with the sort of humorous incongruity people appreciate in a Dave Chappelle joke. This is why I’ve prefaced this note with an image of Budai, the laughing Buddha of the Chinese Chan tradition, from which Japanese Zen Buddhism developed. The intellectual enlightenment facilitated by Buddhist intellectual non-attachment is fun. That’s pretty much why I like doing philosophy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This will not be a post about the meditative aspects of constructing proofs in symbolic logic (doing proofs is probably not the sort of meditative activity Zen masters will recommend). I’m rather interested in the Buddhist notion of non-attachment and how it applies to critical thinking. Buddhism maintains that the cause of all suffering is … Continue reading Critical Thinking Note 37: The Zen of Logic<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.bellevuecollege.edu\/wrussellpayne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.bellevuecollege.edu\/wrussellpayne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.bellevuecollege.edu\/wrussellpayne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.bellevuecollege.edu\/wrussellpayne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.bellevuecollege.edu\/wrussellpayne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1201"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/commons.bellevuecollege.edu\/wrussellpayne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1283,"href":"https:\/\/commons.bellevuecollege.edu\/wrussellpayne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1201\/revisions\/1283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commons.bellevuecollege.edu\/wrussellpayne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.bellevuecollege.edu\/wrussellpayne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commons.bellevuecollege.edu\/wrussellpayne\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}