Moral thinkers and philosophers from India

Socrates (469-399 B.C.E.) is acclaimed as the father of Western philosophy.

Socratic Philosophy	Ethics in administration	Example
‘Knowledge is virtue’ – Knowledge is only good and ignorance is only vice	Knowledge of rule books like Code of conduct (All India Service conduct rule 1968, Rajasthan civil services conduct rules 1971, GST rule book etc) An administration must have knowledge about society, Demography, International relationship, Economy etc	Field training of IAS/RAS officers to get a knowledge of society and demography
The unexamined life is not worth living – Human beings must understand their purpose	An administrator must have higher goals/purposes like welfare of society and becoming the agent of change	Eg. IAS Jitendra Kumar Soni’s Charan Paduka Abhiyaan helped 1.5 Lakh children
Socrates Advocates mild asceticism – Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live.” – Socrates	An administrator while enjoying government machinery like a car, home, servants must not forget the real purpose. He must keep the principle of बहुजन हिताय ( Bahujan’s welfare ) above than स्वांत: सुखाय (For one’s own happiness )	IAS Poma Tudu, walked 2 hours on foot to meet tribals on the hill Kerala floods in 2018 – IAS officer Kannan Gopinathan worked continuously for 8 days without going home and another IAS officer MG Rajamanikyam carried rice sacks on his shoulder
Live a life of wisdom and virtue rather than a life of wealth and glory	Administrators must show empathy towards common citizen by leading a simple life	Prabhakar Reddy, Andhra pradesh cadre IAS officer sent his children to local government school
It is unjust to break oaths	A civil servant must obey the constitutional oath (Oath of allegiance to the Constitution of India).	Eg. – Following All India Service conduct rule 1968
Encouraging Open Dialogue	Engaging in dialogue with colleagues, stakeholders, and the community helps to consider different perspectives, ensuring that decisions are made with a comprehensive ethical viewpoint	Eg. – Ratri Chaupal with collector Eg. – MyGov App to take citizen inputs

Summum bonum of life – Summum Bonum i.e the highest and ultimate good is happiness. This happiness must come from intellectual pleasures and philosophical contemplation

Application – Being happy by service delivery, completion of duty, or even going beyond the call of duty

Ex – 40 Nashik Officers Go Beyond Call of Duty to Voluntarily Take Responsibility of 56 Covid Orphans
Happiness from drug abuse, pornography, erotic literature, Violent games, mindless consumption of social media content and bad company should be replaced by happiness from meditation, physical exercise, good literature and good company of friends

Principle of ‘Golden mean’ – Virtue is a mean between two extremes. It lies in moderation. Every virtue lies in between two vices. Ex –

Courage between cowardice and foolhardiness
Politeness between rudeness and flattery
Ambition between greed and Slothful

Application –

Political neutrality between Flattery and hostility/hatred towards politicians
- Ex – I don’t hate politicians. I hate bad politics: T.N. Seshan
Empathy between Apathy and emotional/mental breakdown
- Ex – IPS Chhaya Sharma while Solving the Nirbhaya Case faced an emotional breakdown

Theory	Definition	Proposers
Ethical Egoism	An action is morally right if the consequences are more favorable than unfavorable only to the agent performing the action.	Ayn Rand, Charvaka, Hedonism
Ethical Altruism	An action is morally right if the consequences are more favorable than unfavorable to everyone except the agent.	Lokasamgraha (Geeta), Auguste Comte
Utilitarianism	An action is morally right if the consequences are more favorable than unfavorable to ‘everyone’.	Jeremy Bentham, J.S. Mill, Henry Sidgwick, Peter Singer, Chanakya

Intro – Western philosophy is the outcome of the teachings of mainly Greek and European philosophers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Emmanuel Kant, Jeremy Bentham, John Rawl, etc

Western Philosophy	Evils prevalent in Indian society
Sophism – Subjectivity in moral values + Reasoning	Evils – Intolerance, superstition, Blind faith, Lack of critical or rational thinking Sophism promotes rational and critical thinking
Socrates – Only good is knowledge, Only evil is ignorance Mild asceticism	Evil – Poor literacy rate, lack of authentic sources NEP 2020 Against corruption,
Plato – Wisdom Courage Temperance Justice	Evil – Outraging Modesty of women, Obesity, Unhealthy food choices, Treated by Temperance
Aristotle – Golden mean path Happiness and virtue go together Self control	Evil – Anxiety, sepression Treated by happiness [Intellectual]
Epicureanism – Mental and intellectual pleasure	Evil – Hedonism [Physical pleasures]
Stoicism – Stoics recommend extremely rigorous asceticism	Evil – Kaam (Lust), lobh (greed), Nepotism etc
Utilitarianism	Evils – Poverty, lack of Healthcare and education Inefficiency, Apathy, Selfishness Solution – Greatest good for greatest number
Emmanuel Kant	Evils – Discrimination, human rights violation Solution – Kant’s humanism, Human being as an end
John Rawls	Evils – Discrimination, injustice, inequality, prejudice, etc Solution – Reservation, Veil of ignorance, theory of justice

Conclusion –

Summary – Indian culture has been characterized by its tolerant and assimilative nature. By assimilating Western philosophical knowledge with ancient Indian philosophy, together we as dwellers of this mother earth can march towards better beings. (भारतीय संस्कृति की विशेषता उसकी सहिष्णु और आत्मसात करने की प्रकृति रही है। प्राचीन भारतीय दर्शन के साथ पश्चिमी दार्शनिक ज्ञान को आत्मसात करके, इस धरती माता के निवासी के रूप में हम मिलकर बेहतर प्राणियों की ओर बढ़ सकते हैं) 🚫
Slogan – Connecting Ancient Indian wisdom with Western philosophy, we can for sure achieve the dream of ‘Sarve Bhavantu Sukhin’ (प्राचीन भारतीय ज्ञान को पश्चिमी दर्शन के साथ जोड़कर हम निश्चित रूप से ‘सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिन’ के सपने को साकार कर सकते हैं)

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply