The Drowned Buddha: Buddhism, Ecology, and Mythopoeic Science in Kim Stanley Robinson's Science in the Capital Trilogy.
This article examines how Buddhism is mobilized in Kim Stanley Robinson's Science in the Capital trilogy as both a critique of scientific hyperrationality and a resource for ecological ethics. Drawing on the Dalai Lama's "secular ethics" and the seventeenth Karmapa's "path of environmental Buddhism,...
| Publicado en: | Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science Vol. 61; no. 2; pp. 397 - 421 |
|---|---|
| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Open Library of Humanities
Jun2026
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=195317175&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 195317175 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 05912385 ZYG jtl: Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science issn: 05912385 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jun2026 vid: 61 iid: 2 pid: 15576 pub: Open Library of Humanities artinfo: ui: 195317175 10.16995/zygon.25180 ppf: 397 ppct: 24 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 768KB tig: atl: The Drowned Buddha: Buddhism, Ecology, and Mythopoeic Science in Kim Stanley Robinson's Science in the Capital Trilogy. aug: au: Isevski, Jovana affil: PhD candidate in English, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA su: Buddhism Environmental ethics Human ecology American exceptionalism Robinson, Kim Stanley, 1952- Science fiction Buddhist philosophy sug: subj: Buddhism Environmental ethics Human ecology American exceptionalism Robinson, Kim Stanley, 1952- Science fiction Buddhist philosophy ab: This article examines how Buddhism is mobilized in Kim Stanley Robinson's Science in the Capital trilogy as both a critique of scientific hyperrationality and a resource for ecological ethics. Drawing on the Dalai Lama's "secular ethics" and the seventeenth Karmapa's "path of environmental Buddhism," Robinson invokes Buddhist concepts of emptiness (śūnyatā), interdependence (pratītyasamutpāda), and compassion (karuṇā) to resist what Lisa Sideris terms "mythopoeic science," the sacralization of scientific narratives as redemptive cosmologies. However, his engagement with Buddhism remains selective: traditions are taken up insofar as they reinforce his vision of a reconfigured science, while those less compatible with Western rationalism are set aside. The result is a portrayal of Buddhism that simultaneously critiques scientism and reinscribes American exceptionalism, whiteness, and technocratic authority. Situating Robinson within the broader history of Buddhist modernism and its American reception, the article argues that his trilogy illuminates both the possibilities and limitations of Buddhism's role in shaping ecological thought in the United States. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science is the property of Open Library of Humanities and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science holder: Open Library of Humanities dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|