Grounding Morality: Freedom, Knowledge and the Plurality of Cultures (original) (raw)
Related papers
Ethics and the Moral Life in India (2008)
To talk about ethics and the moral life in India, and whether and when Indians misunderstood each other’s views, we must know something about what Indians thought about ethical and moral issues. However, there is a commonly held view among scholars of Indian thought that Indians, and especially their intellectuals, were not really interested in ethical matters (Matilal 1989, 5; Raju 1967, 27; Devaraja 1962, v-vi; Deutsch 1969, 99). This view is false and strange. Understanding how it is that posterity has managed to misunderstand ethics and the moral life in India so profoundly is not something that we can address without thinking about issues pertaining to scholarship, interpretation and translation. Most importantly, studying a culture demands a philosophical engagement with the categories against which one attempts to understand it. If one believes, as many scholars do, that it is a rigorous study of Sanskrit and other classical Indian languages alone that holds the key to understanding classical India, then there is apparently neither need nor room for such reflection. It is this very same failure to engage philosophically with the category of the ethical and its place in translation that has allowed many modern Indians to misunderstand Indians of yore.
Salesian Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2019
Her areas of special interest and research are Moral Philosophy, Gender Studies and Philosophical Psychology. She has published several papers in journals and edited volumes. This paper aims at addressing the points of emphasis laid down by Gandhi in the dispersed frame of his ethical thoughts. Our venture tries to draw the scattered elements of Gandhi's moral thought and ideas in a single frame of analysis and attempts to reflect on the intertwined aspects of them for exploring the potential of an alternative moral stance. Our task is twofold then: developing a discourse on Gandhi's understanding of ethics, and going beyond the same to examine its significance in a broader context.
Moral Striving: Chapter from Ethical Life in South Asia Editor(s): Anand Pandian & Daud Ali
When, in 1947, India split into two countries-India and Pakistan-the question might have arisen in the minds of many Hindus and Muslims as to what it would mean from now onto "belong" to this country. 1 My aim in this essay is not to tell the story of Indian secularism and its implications for thinking about the cultivation of political virtues; rather my goal is to reflect on how India figured as a theological space for Indian Muslims in their everyday life, given their proximity to Hindus along with their sense of an Islamic project of "becoming" that the birth of Pakistan represented for them. The question might also be posed as follows: Are there different ways of relating to territory than are catalogued in modernist discourses of nationhood that might have been brought into play in considering what it is to cultivate oneself as a moral person in this "new" land? 3 The same question can be asked of Hindus. For my purposes here, however, I will simply state that the story of Hindu "becoming" outside of Hindu nationalist projects is not symmetrical to that of Muslims-which is why it cannot be told through analogies or polarities.
Gandhi, Morality and Modernity
GITAM Journal of Gandhian Studies, 2015
Mahatma Gandhi’s thinking about religion and modernity both continued and broke with the Hindu tradition he inherited. His seminal work Hind Swaraj presents a radical moral critique of modernity, a position he explicitly continued to affirm for the rest of his life. Many (including some of Gandhi’s admirers) have found his views on these matters deeply unpersuasive. I seek to argue, however, that there is rather more to be said in favour of Gandhi’s views than is generally admitted by showing how the nature of modernity does indeed threaten to undermine morality in ways that Gandhi saw quite clearly and to which he offered some interesting responses.
morality in the shadow of politics faisal devji
Having put an end to his first great movement of non-cooperation following the First World War, Gandhi sat down to learn the lessons of this early experiment in mass politics. In 1926 he went on to impart these lessons to his fellow workers in the Sabarmati Ashram by way of a series of lectures on the Bhagavad Gita. Gandhi was interested in exploring the relations between violence and non-violence, which he thought were so intimate that one could very easily turn into the other. Seeking out the Archimedean point that made such a turning possible, the Mahatma had occasion to criticize any ethics that would divide good from evil on the basis of a moral calculus. How, he asked, was an ethics possible that recognized the intractability of ignorance and compulsion? Any ethical system that relied upon knowledge and choice, he thought, was either deluded or true only for a very small elite. A common ethics, then, had to be one which recognized ignorance and compulsion not negatively, as posing limits to moral life, but rather in the form of positive virtues like duty and obedience. Gandhi's commentary on the Gita was therefore an attempt to think about moral action in the context of ignorance and compulsion, which he did by focusing on the integrity of the act itself divested of the idealism lent it by any moral calculus. The story has often been told of Gandhi putting an end to the first and arguably most successful experiment with civil disobedience across India in 1922, after some of his followers burnt to death nineteen policemen trapped in their station at a place called Chauri-Chaura. Explanations of why the Mahatma should have called off a movement that was enjoying extraordinary success include, on the one hand, his fear of losing control over its potentially revolutionary drift, and on the other his realization that the Indians who took to all manner of violence during the satyagraha were not quite ready for their freedom. I am interested neither in the communist theory of Gandhi as an agent of some bourgeois nationalism desperate to rein in the people's revolutionary impetus, nor, for its part, in the liberal theory of a people too immature for independence. Such explanations cannot account for awkward details like the fact that no situation could be very revolutionary that was stopped by a man to whom no police or military force was available, or the fact that Gandhi had consistently demanded immediate self-rule and always rejected the claim of India's being unprepared for independence. 373
The ethical context of social philosophy in contemporary India
Ethics & Bioethics, 2018
Public and academic philosophical thinking in contemporary India provides evidence that philosophy and religion have never been truly separated, although there have been attempts to bring philosophy closer to science and, thus, create two autonomous systems. In light of these changes, P. V. Athavale, C. T. K. Chari, N. S. Prasad and some other authors have formed and are developing modern ethical and social theories. Moreover, feminism and gender studies have appeared in the panorama of changing philosophical and sociological thinking in India, embracing gender equality in contemporary Indian society. There has been increasing interest in sociological research and a critical interpretation of Mahatma Gandhi’s spiritual message in the cause of India’s independence, whose thoughts authors engaged in contemporary ethical problems believe to be impractical and useless today. Existentialism as a philosophical stream earned broad public acceptance and played a significant role in the hist...
GANDHIAN PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHTS: RELEVANCE AND IMPORTUNITY IN 21 ST CENTURY
M. K. Gandhi was a prestigious leader of 20 th century and is often termed as the prognosticator of 21 st century. He was a greatest personality of 20 th century and had a heartfelt influence on world population in relation to many issues (Gupta et al, 2019). He had brought revolution in a nonviolent way of conflict resolution. His teachings imbibed values like truth, peace and non-violence. The aim of this paper is to analyse the importance of Gandhian philosophy during 21 st century, determine whether his teaching has the actual consideration in today's modern world. And also analyse his principles and its relevance in the globalised world of 21 st century. M. K. Gandhi was an ordinary person throughout his student life. His ordinariness began to disappear during his days in South Africa, and he moved upon the way of extraordinariness that made him like a supernal being. His philosophical thoughts emerged out of critical circumstances. He never tied himself with any single philosophical ideology. He imbibed various thoughts in accordance with time and space. His life began with the shyness of a kid and ended with an elevated man or in other words; we can say a super human being. His life attracts everyone in the world who has a feeling of humanity and none is untouched with the milk oh humanity. Each winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace is owed to Mahatma Gandhi. Someway or other Gandhian philosophical thoughts influenced them to act like him to win this prestigious prize for serving humanity. Life of Gandhi is packed with lessons and inspirations that leaves its indelible imprint upon the minds of the readers. He is such a legendary icon that people see him with reverence considering him a divine-like figure. This paper is an attempt to explore the significant Gandhian philosophical thoughts, their origin, impact, and utilization in getting independence and their relevance in this imperialistic and possessive world of the 21st Century. Once M. K. Gandhi was asked whether he was a Hindu? He answered very placidly, "Yes, I am. I am also a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist and a Jew." It is not an easy reply. Gandhi Ji lived his words. He never believed in pretentious and boastful life. He was an amalgamation of all existing religions. He never disregarded or criticised any religion. Though he was in favour that every religion has some shortcomings and it should be eliminated. All religion needs reformation in accordance with time, space and environment. No rule can be suitable for all times. He was a regular reader of the Bhagvad Gita. It was like a shelter for him in his agitated mood. He found solace as well as got power from the preaching of Lord Krishna.
(ed.) Gandhi and the Contemporary World ( London : Routledge ,2020)
Routledge, 2020
The volume examines diverse facets of Gandhi’s holistic view of human life – social, economic and political – for the creation of a just society. Bringing together expert analyses and reflections, the chapters here emphasise the philosophical and practical urgency of Gandhi’s thought and action. They explore the significance of his concepts of truth and nonviolence to address moral, spiritual and ethical issues, growing intolerance, conflict and violence, poverty and hunger, and environmental crisis for the present world. The volume serves as a platform for constructive dialogue for academics, researchers, policymakers and students to re-imagine Gandhi and his moral and political principles. It will be of great interest to those in philosophy, political studies, Gandhi studies, history, cultural studies, peace studies and sociology.
2017
FD: Gandhi understood that self-interest, whether in its individual or collective form, represents the basic category of liberal politics. He also realised that it is not something given to us by nature but has to be set in place through considerable effort. Since interest conceived as ownership was tied to the regime of private property, however, it could only have a marginal existence in a place like India, where property and so ownership had not yet come to define all social relations. This meant that Indian social relations were often marked by modes of behaviour and practice, both violent and non-violent, that could not be accommodated within the logic of interest. Instead of trying to eliminate these altogether, which he thought an impossible task, Gandhi wanted to purify and expand them as forms of disinterest and altruism that deployed sacrifice in the cause of non-violence. He argued that all societies were in fact founded upon such sacrificial or disinterested relations, i...
Gandhi's Synthesis of Liberal and Communitarian Values: Its Basis and Insights
It is well known that notions of individual sovereignty, universal rights, and the duty to follow one's own conscience are central to the philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi. The importance Gandhi places on community, tradition, and fulfilling duties particular to one's place in life is no less noticeable in his writings. That such is the case may indicate an uneasy tension among different elements in Gandhian thought (especially from the perspective of the Western political philosophical tradition). In the first section of this paper, I argue that an underlying harmony in Gandhi's philosophy can be noticed among such seemingly contradictory liberal and communitarian values given his overall views on self-realization. Crucial to my arguments in this section will be an exposition of Gandhi's views on religious conversion and caste identity. I will then show the value Gandhi's understanding has for contemporary philosophical debates between liberals and communitarians. Before concluding, I will consider a problem that arises for my interpretation of Gandhi's thought given perceived universal duties we have toward others.