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Martin Adam

Position

Contact

Area of expertise

Buddhist Philosophy; Indian Religions; Philosophy of Religion; Mysticism; Meditation Theory; Buddhist Ethics; Gandhi; Engaged Buddhism and Civil Disobedience

Credentials

PhD, McGill University (Faculty of Religious Studies)

MA, University of Waterloo (Department of Philosophy)

BA, University of Calgary (Double Major: Philosophy/Eastern Religions)

Research Interests

• Buddhist Philosophy, Consciousness, and AI
• Free will and personhood in Indian Buddhism
• Buddhist Ethics
• Buddhism and Theatre
• Buddhism and Climate Activism
• Mystical Experience and Epistemology
• Buddhist Meditation Theory and Practice

Biography

My work is centered on Indian Buddhism and Buddhist Ethics, with more general interests in other south Asian religious traditions and western Philosophy. I received my PhD from McGill University in 2003, having spent extended stays at institutions in India, Nepal, and Switzerland. My teaching duties lie principally within the Religion, Culture, and Society Program, with many courses cross-listed to Pacific and Asian Studies.

Selected Publications

Edited Volumes

• Buddhism and the Future - Transhumanism and Posthumanism. Eds. Martin T. Adam and Michael Berman. Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies (Vol. 18, 2023).
• Indian Buddhist Metaethics: Panel Proceedings from the Meeting of the IABS, Atlanta, 2008. Ed. Martin T. Adam. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 2010. (2011) Vol: 33.

Articles, Book Chapters, and Creative Works

• What the Buddha Never Taught: A Rock Opera. Producer. Director: Chris Humphreys. Musical Director: Scott White. Jericho Arts Centre, Vancouver, B.C., June 30-July10, 2022.
• "Meditation Dilemma: Portrait of a free choice." Pariyatti Journal, 2021.
• What the Buddha Never Taught: A Rock Opera. Composer, Libretto and music. Arrangements: Marc Atkinson. Album released online, 2021 (Spotify, Apple Music).
• "Moral Development in the Jātakas, Avadānas, and Pāli Nikāyas" in The Oxford Handbook of Buddhist Ethics. Cozort, Dan and James Mark Sheilds, eds., Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018, 77-95.
• “Degrees of Freedom: The Buddha’s Implied Views on the (Im)possibility of Free Will” in Buddhist Perspectives on Free Will: Agentless Agency?, ed. R. Repetti. New York: Routledge, 2016, 123-132.
• "Philosophy, Meditation and Experience in the Great Debate at Bsam yas" in The Bsam yas Debate: Challenges and Responses. Panel Proceedings from the Meeting of the IABS, Vienna, 2014. Ed. David Higgins. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 39, special volume,
• "The Consequences of Consequentialism: Reflections on Recent Developments in the Study of Buddhist Ethics." In Wading into the Stream of Wisdom:  Essays Honoring Leslie Kawamura. Edited by Sarah Haynes and Michelle J. Sorensen. Berkeley: Institute of Buddhist Studies (2014).
• "Buddhism, Equality, Rights." Journal of Buddhist Ethics (2013) Special 20th Anniversary edition Vol. 20: 421-443.
• "No Self, No Free Will, No Problem: Implications of the Anattalakkhana Sutta for a Perennial Philosophical Issue,” in Indian Buddhist Metaethics: Panel Proceedings from the Meeting of the IABS, Atlanta, 2008.  Ed. Martin T. Adam. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 2010. (2011) 33: 239-265.
• “Classes of Agent and the Moral logic of the Pali Canon” Argumentation: Special Volume: Buddhist Logic and Argumentation, Springer (2008) 22: 115-124.
• “Buddhist Perspectives on Terrorism” (with W. Codling) in Religion, Terror and Violence: Religious Studies Perspectives, Rennie, Bryan and Philip T. Tite eds, New York: Routledge, 2008. 177-194.
• “Some Notes on Kamalasila’s Understanding of Insight Considered as the Discernment of Reality (bhuta-pratyaveksa).” Buddhist Studies Review (2008) Vol. 25 (2): 192-207.
• “Two Concepts of Meditation and Three Kinds of Wisdom in Kamalasila’s Bhavanakramas: A Problem of Translation.” Buddhist Studies Review (2006) Vol. 23.1: 71-92.
• “Nonviolence and Emptiness: Buddha, Gandhi, and the ‘Essence of Religion’.” ARC (2006), Vol. 34:  225-238. 
• "Groundwork for a Metaphysic of Buddhist Morals: A new analysis of puñña and kusala, in light of sukka". Journal of Buddhist Ethics (2005) Vol. 11: 62-85. 
• "The Problem of Prejudice: Some Notes on Philosophical Hermeneutics for Broad-Visioned Buddhologists." Journal of Contemporary Buddhism (2002) Vol. 3/1: 31-49.
• "A Post-Kantian Perspective on Recent Debates about Mystical Experience." Journal of the American Academy of Religion (2002) Vol. 70/4: 801-817.
• "Dignāga and The Evolution of the Particular in the Buddhist Epistemological Tradition." ARC (2001) Vol. 29: 5-21.

Forthcoming

• What the Buddha Never Taught: A Rock Opera. 92-page stage-play manuscript completed 2022. Submitted for review.
• "Artistic and Ethical Considerations Arising in Writing a Buddhist Musical" in Buddhism, Creativity, and Art. Panel Proceedings from the 2023 meeting held at Rangjung Yeshe Institute. Kathmandu: LIRI Publishing.
• "Buddhist Theories of Mind and Artificial Consciousness" (with Charles Goodman, Jenny Hung and Francesco Tormen). In Buddhist Perspectives on Consciousness, Evolution, and AI. Italian Buddhist Union Research Centre, 2024
• "Buddhist Ethical Considerations on Machine Intelligence, Virtue, and Character" (with Charles Goodman and James Hughes). In Buddhist Perspectives on Consciousness, Evolution, and AI. IBU Research Centre, 2024

Selected Courses

RCS 200B/ PAAS 204 Introduction to Asian Religions

RCS 305:  Magic, Mysticism, and the Occult

RCS 307: Religion and The Environment

RCS 311 / PAAS 311 Gandhi and the Ethics of Non-violence

RCS 363 / PAAS 363 Buddhism

RCS 401:  Selected Topics: Buddhist Meditation; Death and the Afterlife; Buddhist Ethics; Indian Philosophy and Religion

RCS 490/ PAAS 493:  Reading Seminar in Buddhism: Dīgha Nikāya; Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamikakārikā.

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