Stephen Batchelor and Gil Fronsdal met on July 29 for a 90-minute online conversation sponsored by the Sati Center for Buddhist Studies to explore the themes of Stephen’s upcoming book, Buddha, Socrates, and Us: Ethical Living in Uncertain Times. The book is being published by Yale University Press on August 26.

Batchelor's book is in part a philosophical memoir of his journey from Tibetan Buddhism to Zen to his development of a secular approach to the dharma. But the core of the book is an exploration of how the Buddha and Socrates—two figures who lived approximately at the same time but in very different cultures—provide us with important insights about how to live thoughtfully and responsibly today.

After providing an introduction to the key ideas in the book, Batchelor and Fronsdal focused on how we can live ethically in a world that is uncertain and changing. If we are not reliant on fixed beliefs or systems, how do we respond with compassion and mindfulness to the difficult moral situations that we face? How do we contribute to human flourishing through our actions and speech? What are the core virtues and values that underpin an ethics of uncertainty?

A lively Q&A followed their conversation.

Click below to watch a video of their conversation: