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Background

Charles Goodman is a professor in the Philosophy Department and the Department of Asian and Asian-American Studies at 91����. He holds a BA in physics from Harvard University and a PhD in philosophy from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He is interested in views and arguments about ethics, metaphysics and epistemology found in Buddhist texts from premodern South Asia, Tibet and China, and in what we today can learn from these traditions.

Goodman is the author of Consequences of Compassion: An Interpretation and Defense of Buddhist Ethics (2009) and a co-author of Moonpaths: Ethics and Emptiness (2016). His translations from Sanskrit include The Training Anthology of Śāntideva (2016) and The Tattvasaṃgraha of Śāntarakṣita: Selected Metaphysical Chapters (2022.) He has also published articles on Buddhist philosophy and on applied ethics.

Goodman’s current research focuses on dialogues between different philosophical traditions, both in ancient India and today. He is currently preparing a collaborative volume with Professor Malcolm Keating of Smith College entitled Buddhist Philosophy and Its Critics: An Anthology of South Asian Sources. His next book project will focus on ways in which including Buddhist perspectives in the conversation of the philosophy of religion could affect the relative plausibility of positions already under discussion in that field. Goodman has also recently been writing, presenting and engaging in collaborative conversations on AI ethics and AI safety.

Select publications

• “Sengzhao’s Philosophy of Time” (with Shaofeng Luo), )
• The Tattvasaṃgraha of Śāntarakṣita: Selected Metaphysical Chapters. Oxford University Press, 2022.
• The Training Anthology of Śāntideva: A Translation of the Śikṣ��-�������ܳ������ⲹ. Oxford University Press, 2016.
• Consequences of Compassion: An Interpretation and Defense of Buddhist Ethics. Oxford University Press, 2009.

Education

• PhD, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
• BA Harvard University

Research Interests

• Buddhist Philosophy
• Classical Indian Philosophy
• Applied Ethics
• Metaphysics

Teaching Interests

• Buddhist Ethics, Epistemology, and Metaphysics
• Ethical Theory and Applied Ethics
• Just War Theory and Nonviolent Resistance
• AI Ethics and AI Safety
• Philosophical Traditions of India, China, and Tibet

Awards

• Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching