Buddhist ethics are based on intention or volition

佛教的道德价值奠基于意图与意志力：

'Kamma is volition,' says the Buddha. Action themselves are considered as neither good nor bad but 'only the intention and thought makes them so.' Yet Buddhist ethics does not maintain that a person may commit what are conventionally regarded as 'sins' provided that he does so with the best of intentions. Had this been its position, Buddhism would have confined itself to questions of psychology and left the uninteresting task of drawing up lists of ethical rules and framing codes of conducts to less emancipated teachings. The connection between thoughts and deeds, between mental and material action is an extension of thought. It is not possible to commit murder with a good heart because taking of life is simply the outward expression of a state of mind dominated by hate or greed. Deeds are condensations of thoughts just as rain is a condensation of vapor. Deeds proclaim from the rooftops of action only what has already been committed in the silent and secret chambers of the heart.

佛陀说：「业就是意志力的作用」。行为本身并没有所谓的善与恶，善与恶是我们思维的造作。但是，佛教的道德观并不同意，当一个人犯了传统的罪行时，同时又认为他的出发点是基于善意。如果佛教采取这种立场，将受到心理的困扰，同时也使佛教的道德观失去意义，解脱也变成没有价值了。思想和行为紧密的联系在一起，身和心的一切行为都是思想的延续。一个人不可能带着善心去犯谋杀罪，因为杀害生命是以内心嗔恚为主导的外在表现。行为是思想的压缩，就好像雨水是蒸汽压缩而成一样。行为表现思想的造作，一切行为的表现，其实在内心已经酝酿很久了。

A person who commits an immoral act thereby declares that he is not free from unwholesome states of mind. Also, a person who has a purified and radiant mind, who has a mind empty of all defiled thoughts and feelings, is incapable of committing immoral actions.

当一个人有不道德行为的造作，等于宣布他无法摆脱不健全的心智。同样的，当一个人拥有纯净和明晰的心智，断除了一切污染的意念和感受，他就不可能犯下任何不道德的行为。

Buddhist ethics also recognizes the objectivity of moral value. In other words, the kammic consequences of actions occur in accordance with natural kammic law, regardless of the attitude of the individual or regardless of social attitudes toward the act. For example, drunkenness has kammic consequences; it is evil since it promotes one's own unhappiness as well as the unhappiness of others. The kammic effects of drunkenness exist despite what the drunkard or his society may think about the habit of drinking. The prevailing opinions and attitudes do not in the least detract from the fact that drunkenness is objectively evil. The consequences _ psychological, social, and kammic _ make actions moral or immoral _ regardless of the mental attitudes of those judging the act. Thus while ethical relativism is recognized, it is not considered as undermining the objectivity of values.

佛教的道德范围，同时也包含了客观的道德价值。换句话说，果报的产生是按照自然业力的作用，不关系到个人或社会对这行为的态度。举个例子来说明，醉酒有它一定的业力果报，这是一种罪行，它助长了个人的不愉快，也导致他人不愉快。不管醉酒者或社会对喝酒的看法是如何，对佛教来说，喝酒就是一种恶行。流行的观念和态度，无法改变喝酒就是恶行的客观性。这种不道德的行为，无论在社会、心理或业力，都与判断的心态无关。佛教的道德观，虽然不是绝对的，但是，无损于佛教道德价值的客观性。