Description

Realizing a research ethic of solidarity: The role of the unconscious and an ontology drawn from Zen Buddhist teachings on nonduality

TUCKER BROWN PHD

Assistant Professor of Psychology, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Northern New Mexico College, Espanola, NM, United States of America

Abstract

In this manuscript I explore the moral dimensions of epistemological traditions in human science research. I contend that depth psychology’s focus on the unconscious and core teachings from Zen Buddhism provide complementary ontologies to help manifest solidarity in research. I examine the philosophical foundations of modernist and postmodernist research methods and explicate their underlying values and assumptive worldviews. I argue that research has its own moral trajectory and review research examples to demonstrate the oppressive effects of unexamined researcher bias and epistemological assumptions. I further assert that moral and impactful research ought to embody an ethics of solidarity. Accordingly, I discuss the ethical importance of engaging both unconscious processes as well as an ontology of nonduality to realize an ethic of solidarity. Subsequently, I present my view that Zen Buddhism’s teachings on nonduality and the all-inclusive Self suggest a valuable understanding for realizing this emergent ethic.

Keywords: research ethics, epistemology, ontology, unconscious, Zen Buddhism