THE ROAD TO THE CULTURE OF NONVIOLENCE (original) (raw)
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GANDHI’S PHILOSOPHY OF NON-VIOLENCE: A CRITIQUE
The present paper discusses the philosophy of ‘nonviolence’ (ahimsa) of Mahatma Gandhi, which he devised as a weapon to fight the brute forces of violence and hatred, hailing it as the only way to peace. Gandhi based his philosophy of nonviolence on the principle of love for all and hatred for none. He thought violence as an act caused to a person directly or indirectly, denying him his legitimate rights in the society by force, injury or deception. Gandhi’s nonviolence means avoiding violent means to achieve one’s end, howsoever, lofty it might be, as he firmly believed that the use of violence, even if in the name of achieving a justifiable end was not good, as it would bring more violence. He firmly adhered to the philosophy of Gita that preaches to follow the rightful path, remaining oblivious of its outcome. Gandhi used nonviolence in both his personal and political life and used it first in South Africa effectively and back home he applied it in India against the British with far more astounding success, as it proved supremely useful and efficacious in liberating the country from the British servitude. However, he never tried to use it as a political tactic to embarrass the opponent or to take undue
Gandhi's Philosophy of Nonviolence: Essential Selections
2021
A concise open-access teaching resource featuring essential selections from Gandhi on the philosophy of nonviolence. The book includes: a preface, brief explanatory notes, supplementary boxes containing related philosophical material, images and videos, an appendix on post-Gandhian nonviolence, questions for reflection/discussion, and suggestions for further study.
Rediscovering Gandhi and Principled Nonviolence: An Imperative for the 21st Century
Thammasat Review, 2015
Violence is the behaviour of someone incapable of imagining other solutions to the problem at hand" Bettelheim "I oppose all violence because the good it does is always temporary but the harm it does is permanent" Gandhi. "Nonviolence is a Weapon of the Strong" Gandhi "Nonviolence is fine as long as it works" Malcolm X "Nonviolence is a flop. The only bigger flop is violence" Joan Baez "To kill one man is to be guilty of a capital crime, to kill ten men is to increase the guilt tenfold , to kill a hundred men is to increase it a hundred-fold. This the rulers of the earth all recognise and yet when it comes to the greatest crime-waging war on another state-they praise it..." Mozi, China 470-391 BC This paper argues that while strategic nonviolence is necessary for the overthrow of repressive regimes it is not sufficient for the social, economic and political transformations that follow. Many of the nonviolent revolutions that have succeeded recently in overthrowing dictators and autocrats have not been successful in initiating short, medium and long term peace dividends for the people nor a radical critique of traditional approaches to governance. This paper argues that these things will only happen if nonviolent leaders and followers have a principled approach to social change. It is this which will enable a strong service oriented social and political compass. Without a deep and principled dedication to care for the welfare of others any tactical political change will founder on the rocks of pragmatic and sectional politics.
Profound Revolution: Towards an Integrated Understanding of Nonviolence
This dissertation studies nonviolence in the context of Humanistic Studies, a multi-disciplinary academic field that criticallly explores issues of (existential) meaning and humanization; the personal and social aspects of 'good living'. From this background this study focusses on contemporary nonviolence, using this term not only to point to the absence of violence, but to that which can take its place. Nonviolence is thus understood as a substantive method to create societal and interpersonal change, and even as a paradigm. The aim of the study is twofold. Firstly to descern if it is possible to understand nonviolence a concept independent from specific cultural, religious or practical context. Secondly to see if from such an independent notion it is possible to develop a framework for analysis and practice. The Gandhian understanding of nonviolence is the startingpoint ot this study. However, many developments in nonviolence theory and practice have taken place after Gandhi. This dissertation studies the way Gandhian concepts have caried over, and are changed and expanded by other thinkers and practitioners and what remains the same. From this search it is concluded that five basic elements form the core of contemporary nonviolence: satya (truthseeking), ahimsa (non-harming), tapasya (self-suffering), sarvodaya (the welfare of all) and swadeshi/swaraj (relational autonomy). Together they point to a specific way of wielding power called integrative power, which lies at the heart of nonviolence.
Political and social movements in South Africa, the United States of America, Germany, Myanmar, India, and elsewhere, have drawn inspiration from the non-violent political techniques advocated by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi during his leadership of the anti-colonial struggle for Indian freedom from British colonial rule. This course charts a global history of Gandhi's thought about non-violence and its expression in civil disobedience and resistance movements both in India and the world. Organized in three modules, the first situates Gandhi through consideration of the diverse sources of his own historical and ideological formation; the second examines the historical contexts and practices through which non-violence acquired meaning for him and considers important critiques; the third explores the various afterlives of Gandhian politics in movements throughout the world. We will examine autobiography and biography, Gandhi's collected works, various types of primary source, political, social, and intellectual history, and audiovisual materials. In addition to widely disseminated narratives of Gandhi as a symbol of non-violence, the course will closely attend to the deep contradictions concerning race, caste, gender, and class that characterized his thought and action. By unsettling conventional accounts of his significance, we will grapple with the problem of how to make sense of his troubled legacy.
NON-VIOLENT TEACHINGS OF GANDHI
isara solutions, 2020
We find that much development and great achievements have been made in science and technology for human upliftment . These are external developments, but we have no internal or psychological development lack of which is the cause of violence . Many humanist thinkers and philosophers have contributed to build up a peaceful and perfect society. But there is a little impact of their message on human civilization . But with the help of modern science and technology , some political and social leaders of the world are performing inhuman actions day by day generating disintegration, violence, terrorism, war at national, international , religious, social and political levels .
MAHATMA GANDHI’S PHILOSOPHY ON NON-VIOLENCE
This paper demonstrates that the political theory of Mahatma Gandhi provides us a novel way to understand and arbitrate the conflict among moral projects. Gandhi offers us a vision of political action that insists on the viability of the search for truth and the implicit possibility of adjudicating among competing claims to truth. His vision also presents a more complex and realistic understanding, than some other contemporary pluralists, of political philosophy and of political life itself. In an increasingly multicultural world, political theory is presented with perhaps it’s most vigorous challenge yet. As radically different moral projects confront one another, the problem of competing claims of truth arising from particular views of the human good remains crucial for political philosophy and political action. Recent events have demonstrated that the problem is far from being solved and that its implications are more far-reaching than the domestic politics of industrialized nations. As the problem of violence has also become coterminous with issues of pluralism, many have advocated the banishing of truth claims from politics altogether. Political theorists have struggled to confront this problem through a variety of conceptual lenses. Debates pertaining to the politics of multiculturalism, tolerance, or recognition have all been concerned with the question of pluralism as one of the most urgent facts of political life, in need of both theoretical and practical illumination.
Violence and Non-violence today—How Gandhian Principles can help in reducing Violence
There are serious problems of deprivation, poverty, lack of educational and health facilities, marginalization and victimization of millions of people in many parts of the world including India where a vast majority of the population are adversely affected. Although many sections of this population suffer silently, occasionally they rise in protest and commit violence on the state and others individuals. We discuss the nature of different forms of violence and the principal factors leading to conflict and violence. Examples of these diverse forms of violence as well as the violence usually termed as Maoist or Naxal violence witnessed in certain tribal or indigenous areas of India, are also considered. Mahatma Gandhi emphasized truth, non-violence and peace and advocated a people-centred approach to development. He also proposed suitable education and economic development programmes and action that would help in reduction of disparities and poverty, rural uplift, environmental protection and amity between different religions. He led a simple life and was particular about limiting one’s wants and needs. We discuss the relevance of the Gandhian principles of truth, Satyagraha, non-violence, proper educational system and religious tolerance and argue that these principles can be applied even in the contemporary situation for reduction of conflict and violence by advancing the welfare of deprived sections of people, protection of the environment and by promoting peace and understanding amongst peoples. These principles have universal validity and have been successfully adopted by several countries and peoples.
The two basic principles or ideals that guided Gandhi’s life were truth and nonviolence. For him truth was God and realising this truth as God was the ultimate purpose of life. He expounded the proposition that truth could be realised only through nonviolence: “Truth is the end and nonviolence the means.” Gandhi gave his own definition and explanation of nonviolence which transcended con-ventional understanding of the concept. For Gandhi nonviolence was not a negative concept meaning non-injury or non-killing but a positive one which meant love in the sense of selfless service of one’s fellow beings which included the entire creation. The essence of his arguments is that one must try to practise nonviolence in thought word and deed and to organise all life activities on its basis, and that would bring in unprecedented and revolutionary changes in human life. The paper attempts to codify and put in perspective the defining features of nonviolence as understood, explained and practised by Mahatma Gandhi. / Los dos principios o ideales básicos que dirigieron la vida de Gan-dhi fueron la verdad y la no violencia. Para él, la verdad era Dios, y llevar a cabo esta verdad como Dios fue el máximo propósito de su vida. Propuso la teoría de que la verdad solamente se podría llevar a cabo mediante la no violencia: “La verdad es el fin, y la no violencia, el medio”. Gandhi brindó su propia definición y explica-ción de la no violencia que trascendía el entendimiento convencional del concepto. Para Gandhi, la no violencia no fue un concepto ne-gativo significando no dañar o no matar, sino un concepto positivo que significaba el amor en el sentido del servicio altruista para nues-tros seres compañeros, lo que incluye toda la creación. La esencia de sus argumentos es que uno debe intentar la práctica no violenta en pensamiento, palabra y obra, y organizar todas las actividades de la vida sobre este fundamento. Esto ocasionaría cambios revoluciona-rios sin precedente en la vida humana. Este estudio intenta codificar y poner en perspectiva las características representativas de la no violencia como fueron entendidas, explicadas y practicadas por Ma-hatma Gandhi.
Nonviolence, a weapon for the strong
Previous peacebuilding studies have mainly focused on violent conflicts ignoring peaceful ones which have been a minor sideline. Peace research is therefore a new academic field in peace and conflict studies. The practice of nonviolence has on the other hand developed a lot over the last 100 years (Johansen cited in Webel and Galtung 2009: 143). Mahtma Karamchand Gandhi well known as the father of nonviolence used the concept ahimsa translated as nonviolence to express that nonviolence is not a question of physical actions but a principle guiding humans in their thoughts, words and deeds. Today, non violent techniques are used in most social and political movements, peace organisations and other parts of the civil society, they are used regularly to promote their ideas and struggle for their causes. Nonviolent actions are used either to create wider support for their goals, to directly reach their aims, or in order to prevent their opponents from achieving theirs (Johansen cited in Webel and Galtung 2009: 148). The most influential use of non violence in recent decades is evident in political revolutions since the 1980's. This paper is based on discussing the nuanced views of nonviolence explaining how non violence is a preferred option to violence in conflict resolution.