Intro; Dedication; Preface and Acknowledgement; Contents; About the Author; Chapter 1: Introduction: Justification of Morality; Rationality and Moral Personhood; Spirituality and Moral Personhood; References; Chapter 2: Ethics, Applied Ethics and Indian Theories of Morals; Absolute Standards Account for Inapplicability; Logical Consistency and Applicability; Dharmas, Conflicts and Defeasibility; Critique of Swadharma as Swabhavaja; References; Chapter 3: Morality and Objectivity; Objectivity and Moral Scepticism; Moral Realism and Objectivity; Understanding Mackie
Chapter 7: Karma as a Theory of Retributive MoralityReferences; Chapter 8: Niskama Karma: A Critical Assessment; References; Chapter 9: Purusarthas: A General Theory of Values; What It Means; From Actuality to Normativity; Synthetic Nature of the Purusarthas; On the Typology of the Purusarthas; References; Chapter 10: Moksa and Morality; Morality as Precondition of Moksa; References; Bibliography; Index
Objectivity and IndependenceObjective Tolerance: The Secondary Quality Model of Value Awareness; Craving for Absolute Objectivity: Sources and Solution; Applicability and Objectivity; References; Chapter 4: Universalisability and Objectivity; References; Chapter 5: Ethical Theorizing in Indian Philosophy; On Indian Philosophy Being Practical; Theorizing About Practice; Ethics Presupposes a Real World; 'No-Ethics' Charge Refuted; References; Chapter 6: Dharma as Moral Duty; Dharma, Its Varieties and the Internal Contradictions; Moral Duty: Kant and the Gita; Dharma as the Sustainer; References
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This book presents a novel interpretation of major problems of Indian ethics from an applied ethical perspective. It approaches prominent theories like Dharma, Karma and Purusarthas from a critical point of view, so as to render them logically consistent and free from some standard limitations. Ethical theories are meant to provide guidance for life, but quite often many of our celebrated theories appear to be inapplicable or difficult to apply in practical life. Indian ethical theories are of special significance to this problem because they have in them rich potentials of applicability as much as many of them typify inapplicable abstract theories of morals. The book incorporates a wealth of research on ethical theories, keeping in view the spirit of ethics and the demands of the situations; for a reasoned balance between the two is the key to applied ethics. The book argues that ethical theories are objective but defeasible in overriding circumstances where competing values deserve preference. Such justified exceptions are warranted by the very spirit of ethics, which is to promote the good life. The argument from defeasibility and justified violation in the book helps bridging the gap between ethics and its application and makes Indian theories of value appear in fresh light- workable, practically applicable and effective as incentives for morality. With uncommon virtue of contemporized presentation of Indian ethics, this book should be of interest to scholars and researchers working on Indian ethics and moral philosophy, as well as to those interested in Indian culture and value tradition.