Classical Indian Ethical Thought English 2022

Morality is man's special privilege. No other animal is moral. In fact, an animal other than man has neither the capacity of distinguishing between right and wrong nor it is liable to be called right or wrong for any of its actions. This is why morality or ethics is a world phenomenon in the human sphere, meaning thereby that people everywhere in the world are bound by certain moral obligations. Notwithstanding the above fact, the Westerners have often disputed the possibility of any scope for ethics in Indian philosophical thought. This is obviously wrong in the face of the fact that there are a lot of do's and don t's for man prescribed in the various philosophical and religious texts of traditional India. These do's and don'ts are obviously connected with man's conduct and character and it is in the light of them that an act of an Indian is called right or wrong, or his conduct good or bad. Still, however, whenever a Western thinker complains about the Indian thought that it lacks in any scope for ethics, he has two things in mind (1) his own conception of ethics and (2) his conception about the nature of traditional Indian Philosophy. Let us dwell here to some length on both the points.