Why do some Buddhists find the idea of survival of the fittest troubling?

Survival of the fittest describes creatures competing so that the best adapted live and breed. Buddhists hold up compassion and co-operation, not competition, as the human ideal.

What is the Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta?

The Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta records the monk Malunkyaputta demanding answers about whether the world is eternal. The Buddha refused and told the parable of the poisoned arrow.

Describe the parable of the poisoned arrow.

A man shot with a poisoned arrow refuses treatment until he knows who shot him and what bow was used. The man would die before he learned the answers.

What does the parable of the poisoned arrow teach?

The Buddha taught that some questions do not lead to the end of suffering. The urgent task is to remove the arrow of suffering, not to speculate.

Edexcel GCSE Religious Studies B 1RB0

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Sikhism: EqualityPaper 3

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Buddhism: Matters of Life and Death

Buddhist responses to evolution and survival of the fittest

3 things to know
Paper 1

Overview

Why evolution fits Buddhist teaching, doubts about survival of the fittest, the Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta and the poisoned arrow read two ways, the Dalai Lama on material explanations, and Humanist views of purpose.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

How might Buddhists respond to the Humanist view that life has no given purpose?

Key term

How do most Buddhists respond to the theory of evolution?

Key term

Why does evolution fit Buddhist teaching?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

1
How do most Buddhists respond to the theory of evolution?
Model answer
Most Buddhists accept evolution, since Buddhism has no story of God creating each species. Change over time fits the teaching of anicca.
2
Why does evolution fit Buddhist teaching?
Model answer
Evolution describes living things arising from earlier causes and conditions. The idea matches dependent origination and impermanence.
3
Why do some Buddhists find the idea of survival of the fittest troubling?
Model answer
Survival of the fittest describes creatures competing so that the best adapted live and breed. Buddhists hold up compassion and co-operation, not competition, as the human ideal.
4
What is the Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta?
Model answer
The Cula-Malunkyovada Sutta records the monk Malunkyaputta demanding answers about whether the world is eternal. The Buddha refused and told the parable of the poisoned arrow.
5
Describe the parable of the poisoned arrow.
Model answer
A man shot with a poisoned arrow refuses treatment until he knows who shot him and what bow was used. The man would die before he learned the answers.
6
What does the parable of the poisoned arrow teach?
Model answer
The Buddha taught that some questions do not lead to the end of suffering. The urgent task is to remove the arrow of suffering, not to speculate.

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AOmnipotent means all-powerful.

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