Equanimity and the Loving Eye
Feminist Philosophy of Mind July 7, 2022 Emily Mcrae
Loving attention—paying attention to others motivated by care, respect, and kindness—is central to both Mahayana Buddhist philosophy and feminist ethics. This chapter develops an account of loving attention and addresses two challenges: whether such attention can be accurate (the accuracy problem) and how it can be cultivated (the cultivation problem). To answer the cultivation problem, the author argues that the Buddhist skills of equanimity and mindfulness are essential for transforming from an unloving, arrogant perceiver into someone capable of loving attention. Equanimity, in particular, is a necessary component for understanding this moral and psychological development.