Ethics Thinker

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Compendium of Core Thoughts

and
Philosophies of Moral Thinkers
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Part A
Thinkers and Philosophers from the World
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INDEX
1. Aristotle -------------------------------------4 30. John Stuart Mill ----------------------------18
2. Abraham Lincoln --------------------------5 31. John Locke ----------------------------------19
3. Adam Smith ---------------------------------6 32. John Rawls ----------------------------------19
4. A. J. Ayer -------------------------------------6
33. Karl Marx ------------------------------------20
5. Arthur Schopenhauer --------------------7
34. Lawrence Kohlberg -----------------------20
6. Aristippus of Cyrene ---------------------7
35. Lao Tzu ---------------------------------------20
7. Auguste Comte -----------------------------8
8. Ayn Rand ------------------------------------8 36. Martin Luther King Jr --------------------.21
9. Confucius ------------------------------------9 37. Max Weber ----------------------------------21
10. Charles Stevenson -----------------------9 38. Mc Parson -----------------------------------22

11. Cicero -------------------------------------10 39. Montesquieu -------------------------------22
12. Daniel Goleman ------------------------10 40. Nelson Mandela ----------------------------22
13. Daniel Katz ------------------------------11
41. Nicolo Machiavelli -------------------------23
14. David Hume -----------------------------11
42. Peter Salovey and Mayer -----------------23
15. Democritus ------------------------------12
43. Plato ------------------------------------------24
16. Epicurus ---------------------------------12
17. Friedrich Nietzsche -------------------12 44. Ralph Cud worth ---------------------------24
18. Francis Bacon ---------------------------13 45. Rene Descartes ----------------------------24
19. G.E. Moore -------------------------------13 46. R. M. Hare ------------------------------------25

20. George Berkeley -----------------------14 47. Robert Nozick ------------------------------25
21. Hanna Arendt ---------------------------14 48. Rosenberg and Hovland -----------------25
22. Herbert Spencer -----------------------14
49. Socrates --------------------------------------26
23. Henry David Thoreau -----------------15
50. St. Thomas Aquinas -----------------------26
24. Immanuel Kant -------------------------15
51. Sigmund Freud -----------------------------27
25. Jeremy Bentham -----------------------16
26. Jean Paul Sartre ------------------------17 52. Thomas Hobbes ---------------------------27
27. Jean-Jacques Rousseau ---------------17 53. Voltaire --------------------------------------28
28. Denotological Ethics ------------------17 54. W.D. Ross ------------------------------------28

29. Jean Piaget -------------------------------18 55. Zeno of Citium ------------------------------29
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Moral Thinker /
Core Thoughts / Ethical Views/ Contributions To Ethics
Philosopher/ Leader
Do You Know This?
• Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical
period in Ancient Greece.
• He is one of the most important founding figures in Western Philosophy,
Aristotle was the tutor of Alexander the Great and he encouraged
Alexander toward eastern conquest.
• Aristotelian ethics is popularly known as the Nicomachean Ethics.
Contributions to Ethics:
1. Nicomachean Ethics- A Famous Treatise of Aristotle.
2. Concept of Virtues.
3. Doctrine of Golden Mean Principle.
Aristotle 4. Concept of Summum Bonum/ Happiness.
5. Spectrum of Life/ character.
6. Circle of Influence.
7. Concept of Eudemonia.
8. Concept of Magnanimous Principle.
Core Thoughts and Ethical Views:

• Nicomachean Ethics: He wrote a famous treatise - Nicomachean Ethics.
According to Aristotle two most important aspects of ethics and Human
life are happiness and virtues. These two aspects of happiness and
virtue should go together and harmoniously.
Field of Ethics: Virtue • Concept of Virtues: According to Aristotle virtues are of two types viz.
Moral virtues and Intellectual virtues.
Ethics
1. Moral virtues: The virtues which lead to good actions are called
Moral virtues.
2. Intellectual Virtues: The virtues which are acquired or inculcated
by engaging the rationality or intellectuality refers to intellectual
virtues.
• Doctrine of Golden mean principle: Aristotle’s celebrated doctrine of
virtue / Doctrine of golden mean principle defines the virtue as a mean
between two extreme vices i.e. every virtue lies in between two vices.
For example: Courage is a virtue which lies between the two extremes of
cowardice and Rashness.
• Concept of Summum Bonum/ Happiness: According to him Happiness

is the highest good and ultimate aim of life. Further he believes that
for a person final end of all his actions is Happiness and it is Summum
Bonum.
• Spectrum of Life/ character: Aristotle’s spectrum of character consists
of 4 characters on a line of spectrum.
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SPECTRUM OF CHARACTER
Vicious Man – Incontinent Man –Continent Man– Virtuous Man
1. Vicious Man: Vicious man is the one who derives the pleasure by
indulging in excesses and bothers only about his pleasures.
2. Incontinent Man: Incontinent man is the one who is inclined to act
wrongly though he is fully aware that his actions are not correct.
3. Continent Man: He posses strength and will, tries to do right things but
gives up his actions due to some inclinations.
4. Virtuous Man: Virtuous man is the best man. He is the right person
with right motive. He will do right things at the right time to right extant
and he does the right always.
• Circle of Influence: According to him when a person is moving from
vicious to virtuous in the spectrum of character he/ she may encounter
some obstacles in the form of some undue influences. To sustain this
virtuous path one should come out of this circle of Influence to be a
virtuous person.
• Concept of Eudemonia: Aristotle says acquisition of Intellectual virtues
and virtue of character makes up the highest good and this is known as
Eudemonia.
• Concept of Magnanimous Principle/ Morality: When an Individual
embodies the virtues of nobility like valor, dignity, loyalty, generosity etc
then he can be regarded as Magnanimous personality and their moral
character can be termed as Magnanimous morality. The magnanimous
morality may be impossible without nobility and goodness of character.
The magnanimous man will be mainly concerned with maintaining his
honour and dignity.
Famous Quotes / Golden Lines:
• Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.
• The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.
• Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality which
guarantees the others.
• Virtues render Virtues easy – Virtues flow from habitation.
Do You Know This?
• Abraham Lincoln was an American statesman and lawyer who served as
the 16th president of the United States.
• He preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal
government, and modernized the U.S. economy.
Abraham Lincoln • He was not only a statesman and political leader but a moral force that
changed the way Americans viewed social relations.
• Moral integrity occupied the core of the kind of person Lincoln made
himself. Financial honesty represented one important aspect of
this integrity. There are many examples of Lincoln’s extraordinary
intellectual honesty.
• Lincoln opposed slavery not only on political grounds but on moral
grounds. He considered every human being has worth which is expressed
through dignity. Lincoln modeled the balance between moral certainty
and moral humility
• Whatever you are, be a good one.
• The best way to predict your future is to create it.
• When I do good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion.
• Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s
character, give him power.
• Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more
important than any other.
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Do You Know This?

• Adam Smith was a Scottish philosopher and political economist of the
Age of Enlightenment.
• He is widely cited as the father of modern economics, and sometimes as
the father of modern Capitalism.
Adam Smith • His magnum opus, “The Wealth of Nations”, is considered the first
modern work of classical economics.
1. Propounded Conditional Egoism, a form of Ethical Egoism.

• The Theory of Moral Sentiments” was Smith’s first published work in
the realm of ethics.
• He concluded that conscience arises from social relationships.
Field of Ethics: Normative
Ethics (Ethical Egoism- • He proposed a theory of “sympathy” in which the act of observing
Conditional Egoism) others makes people aware of themselves and of the morality of their
own behavior.

• Science is the great antidote to the poison of enthusiasm and superstition.
• Humanity is the virtue of a woman, generosity that of a man
Do You Know This?

• Sir A. J. Ayer was a 20th Century English philosopher in the Analytic
Philosophy tradition, mainly known for his promotion of Logical
Positivism.
A. J. Ayer • Logical Positivists believe that “A statement is only truth-apt if it is
either an analytic statement or a synthetic statement”. This is known
as the Verification-Principle.
• A. J. Ayer is popular for his ethical work called Emotivism
1. Emotivism
2. Logical Positivism
• Emotivism: A.J. Ayer argued that since moral statements are not truth-
apt. All moral statements are just an expression of a person’s belief,
Field of Ethics: Meta desires, approval or disapproval. Hence all moral statements are just
Ethics feelings or emotions towards a certain situation. This forms the core
(Non Cognitivism) principle behind Emotivism.
• A. J. Ayer’s Emotivism does not suffer from Moore’s open question
argument.
• According to Ayer a moral intuition does not meet the verification
principle.
• “The only possible basis for a sound morality is mutual tolerance and
respect: tolerance of one another’s customs and opinions; respect for
one another’s rights and feelings; awareness of one another’s needs”.
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Do You Know This?

• Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher and an important
Arthur Schopenhauer figure in the German Idealism and Romanticism movements in the early
19th Century.
• He believed that the “will-to-life” (the force driving man to survive and
to reproduce) was the driving force of the world and that the pursuit
of happiness, love and intellectual satisfaction was essentially futile and
anyway secondary to the innate imperative of procreation.

• Schopenhauer called himself a Kantian and his starting point was
Field of Ethics: certainly Kant’s division of the universe into the phenomenal and the
Philosopher Noumenal.
• He also sub scribed to the Contractarianism of Thomas Hobbes and
deemed the state necessary to check the destructive tendencies innate
to our species.

• Life swings like a pendulum backward and forward between pain and
boredom.
• Compassion is the basis of morality.
• A man can do what he wants, but not want what he wants.
Do You Know This?
• Aristippus of Cyrene was a hedonistic Greek philosopher and the founder
Aristippus of Cyrene of the Cyrenaica school of philosophy.

• He was a pupil of Socrates, but adopted a very different philosophical
outlook, teaching that the goal of life was to seek pleasure.
• His view that pleasure is the only good came to be called ethical
hedonism.
1. Propounded Ethical hedonism.

Field of Ethics: Ethical
• The philosophy of Hedonism has been propounded by Aristippus of
Hedonism
Cyrene.
( Normative Ethics –
Consequentialism) • Hedonism: Hedonism is a school of thought that argues that pleasure is
the highest good, the supreme ideal of life. In simple terms, a hedonist
strives to maximize net pleasure. Hedonism evaluates human actions on
the basis of the consequences of actions i.e. pleasure and pain.
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Do You Know This?

• Auguste Comte was a French philosopher and pro to-sociologist of the
early Modern period.
• August comte is best known for coining the terms “sociologie” (Sociology)
and altruisme (Altruism) and his lasting contribution to philosophy is as
Auguste Comte the founder of the 19th Century Positivism movement.
1. Coined the terms Altruism and sociology.
2. Theory of Positivism.
3. Theory of Universal Law – Knowledge.

• The Theory of Positivism: Comte’s main legacy is his influential theory
of Positivism, the idea that the only authentic knowledge is scientific
knowledge. For Comte, the goal of Positivism had always been moral
order and the reformation of the social order it would bring, rather than
Field of Ethics:
material advances or affluence.
Philosopher
• Theory of a universal law/ Law of Three Phases: Comte developed
his theory of a universal law according to which “Each department
of knowledge passes through three stages. The theoretic stage; the
theological stage and the metaphysical or abstract stage”.

• To understand a science, it is necessary to know its history.
Do You Know This?
• Carol Gilligan is an American feminist, ethicist and psychologist best
known for her work on ethical community and ethical relationships and
certain subject-object problems in ethics.
Ayn Rand • She is well known in the field of ethics for her feminist ethics and ethics
of care.
1. Advocated feminist Ethics
2. Propounded Ethics of Care
3. Differentiated ethics of Justice with Ethics of Care
4. Criticised Kohlberg’s theory of moral development as gender biased.

• Ethics of care: Gilligan argued that women approached ethical problems
differently than men and thus ethics needs to be reinterpreted from a
woman’s point of view. She propounded the concept of “Ethics of Care”.
Field of Ethics:
Normative Ethics • Ethics of Care Vs Ethics of Justice: According to Gilligan under the
(Consequentialism – ethics of justice, men judge themselves guilty if they do something
Rational Egoism) wrong. Whereas under the ethic of care, women are reluctant even to
judge the action. This reluctance to judge itself may be the indicative of
the care and concern for others. Thus women not only define themselves
in a context of human relationship but also judge themselves in terms
of ‘care and concern’. Gilligan thus brings out the distinction between
‘ethics of care’ and ‘ethics of justice’.
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Do You Know This?

• Confucius was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the spring and
autumn period.
• The philosophy of Confucius, also known as Confucianism, he
emphasized on personal and governmental morality, correctness of
social relationships, justice, kind ness, and sincerity.
Confucius 1. Introduced Confucian Ethics.
2. Propounded Silver Rule

• A common way to understand Confucian ethics is that it is virtue ethics.
• His moral teachings emphasized self-cultivation, emulation of moral
exemplars, and the attainment of skilled judgment rather than knowledge
of rules. Confucian ethics may, therefore, it can be considered a type of
virtue ethics.
• Silver Rule: One of his teachings was a variant of the Golden Rule,
Field of Ethics: sometimes called the “Silver Rule” owing to its negative form: - “What
Confucian Ethics ( A you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others.”
Variant of Virtue Ethics • He strongly emphasized on personal and governmental morality,
correctness of social relationships, justice, kind ness, and sincerity.

• Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you.
• Our greatest glory is not in ever falling, but in rising every time we fall.
• It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.
• Life is really simple, but men insist on making it complicated.
Do You Know This?
• Charles Stevenson was a mid-Twentieth Century American philosopher
best known for his pioneering work in the field of Metaethics.
• He is a central figure along with A. J. Ayer in the development of
Charles Stevenson Emotivism. He gave the most sophisticated defense of Emotivism in the
post-war period.
1. Deep Emotivism
2. Theory of Emotive Meaning

• Deep Emotivism: Charles Stevenson argued that moral statements are
Field of Ethics: Meta deeply held beliefs (Moral Statements = deeply held beliefs).
Ethics • Theory Of Emotive Meaning: In his papers “The Emotive Meaning of
(Non Cognitivism) Ethical Terms” (1937) and “Persuasive Definitions” (1938), and his book
Ethics and Language (1944), he developed a theory of emotive meaning;
which he then used to provide a foundation for his theory of a persuasive
definition.
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Cicero Do You Know This?

• Cicero was a Roman philosopher, orator and statesman of the Roman
period. He was a central political figure during the turbulent reign of
Julius Caesar.

• A room without books is like a body without a soul.
• The more laws, the less justice
• Peace is liberty in tranquility.
Field of Ethics:
Philosopher
Do You Know This?

• Daniel Goleman is an author and science journalist and psychologist.
• For twelve years, he wrote for The New York Times, reporting on the
brain and behavioral sciences.
1. Popularized the Term Emotional Intelligence

• The term Emotional Intelligence got popular in 1996 from Dan Goleman’s
book ‘Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ’.
Daniel Goleman
• Elements of EI (as given by Daniel Goleman)
1. Self-Awareness: It is the skill of being aware of and understanding
one’s emotions as they occur and as they evolve.
2. Self-Regulation: It is about controlling one’s emotions i.e. instead of
reacting quickly; one can reign in one’s emotions and thus will think
before responding.
3. Internal Motivation: It includes one’s personal drive to improve
and achieve commitment to one’s goals, initiative, or readiness to
act on opportunities, and optimism and resilience.
4. Empathy: It is an awareness of the needs and feelings of others both
individually and in groups, and being able to see things from the
Field of ethics: point of view of others.
Psychologist 5. Social Skills: It is applying empathy and balancing the wants and
requirements of others with one’s. It includes building good rapport
with others.
Famous Quotes / Golden Lines

• People tend to become more emotionally intelligent as they age and
mature.
• “What really matters for success, character, happiness and lifelong
achievements is a definite set of emotional skills – your EQ — not just
purely cognitive abilities that are measured by conventional IQ tests.”
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Do You Know This?

• Daniel Katz was an American psychologist, Emeritus Professor
in Psychology at the University of Michigan and an expert on
organizational psychology.
Daniel Katz • Katz produced classic studies of racial stereotyping and prejudice, and
attitude change, and his pursuit of the connections between individual
psychology and social systems helped to found the field of organizational
psychology.
Core Thoughts and Ethical Views

• Daniel Katz classified the functions of attitude into following types:
1. Knowledge function: Knowing ones or other’s attitude imparts
knowledge.
2. Ego-defensive function: Attitudes can help people protect their
self-esteem and avoid depression.
Field of ethics: 3. Ego-expressive function: Used to express one’s core values or
Psychologist beliefs.
4. Instrumental function: Helps to choose what is rewarding (and
also avoid punishment).
5. Social Acceptance function: Adapt to the socially approved
attitudes of a larger group.
Do You Know This?

• David Hume was a Scottish philosopher, historian, economist,
and essayist known especially for his philosophical empiricism and
skepticism.
• David Hume was a cognitive non-naturalist who believed that moral
statements can’t be reduced to natural statements.
• David Hume’s is-ought problem is his greatest contribution to moral
philosophy or ethics.
David Hume
1. Cognitive Non-Naturalist
2. Is – Ought Gap/ Problem / Hume’s Law/ Hume’s Guillotine

• Is – Ought Gap/ Problem: The is–ought problem states that many
writers make claims about what ought to be, based on statements about
what is. This problem is found within our understanding of morality.
How can we know what ought to be by assuming knowledge of what is.
According to Hume we cannot derive our moral values from non-moral
natural facts.
Field of Ethics: • In simple words “we cannot make moral value judgements by only
Meta Ethics (Cognitive observing facts”. How can we derive how we ought to act based on what
Non Naturalism) is?
• The “is ought” problem is also known as Hume’s law, Hume’s guillotine
or fact value gap.

• Be a philosopher but, amid all your philosophy be still a man.
• Custom is the great guide to human life
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Do You Know This?

• Democritus as an Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher primarily
remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of the
universe.
• Although he was a contemporary of Socrates, he usually considered
Pre-Socratic in that his philosophy and his approach were more similar
to other Pre Socratic thinkers than to Socrates and Plato.
• Atomism/ Atomic theory of Universe: Democritus’ philosophical
views can be summarized into one word called Atomism. Atomism is the
Democritus theory that all of reality and all the objects in the universe are composed
of very small, indivisible and indestructible building blocks known
as atoms.
• In the field of Ethics, Democritus pursued a type of early Hedonism or
Epicureanism. He was one of the earliest thinkers to explicit posit a
supreme good or goal, which he called cheerfulness or well-being.
• Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold, happiness dwells
in the soul.
• The brave man is he who overcomes not only his enemies but his
pleasures.
Do You Know This?
• Epicurus was an ancient Greek philosopher who founded
Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy.
Epicurus • Epicurus is said to have originally written over 300 works on various
subjects, but the vast majority of these writings have been lost.
• Like Aristotle, Epicurus was an empiricist, meaning he believed that
the senses are the only reliable source of knowledge about the world
1. Founded Epicureanism
2. Greatest good is to seek modest pleasures
• Epicureanism: This school derives its name from its founder Epicurus,
who founded his school on the outskirts of Athens and famously called it
as the Garden (307 BC).
• Epicureanism teaches that the greatest good is to seek modest
Field of Ethics: pleasures in order to attain a state of tranquility, freedom from fear
Epicureanism and absence from bodily.
• Epicurus directed that the state of tranquility could be obtained through
knowledge of the workings of the world and the limiting of desires.
• Epicurus was one of the first to develop a notion of justice as a kind of
social contract, an agreement “neither to harm nor be harmed”.
Friedrich Nietzsche Do You Know This?
• Friedrich Nietzsche was a 19th Century German philosopher and
philologist.
• He is considered an important forerunner of Existentialism movement
(although he does not fall neatly into any particular school).
• He challenged the foundations of Christianity and traditional
morality, famously asserting that “God is dead”, leading to (generally
justified) charges of Atheism, Moral Skepticism, Relativism and
Nihilism
Field of Ethics:
Philosopher
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Do You Know This?

• Sir Francis Bacon was an English philosopher, statesman, essayist
and scientist of the late Renaissance period
• His major contribution to philosophy was his application of inductive
Francis Bacon reasoning (Generalizations based on individual instances)
• He was an early proponent of Empiricism and the scientific method.
1. Distinguished Duty to the community with Duty to God.
2. Rejected Aristotelian Philosophy.
• In Ethics, he distinguished between duty to the community (an ethical
matter) and duty to God (a religious matter). He believed that any moral
action is the action of the human will, that good habit is what aids men
in directing their will toward the good, but that no universal rules can
be made, as both situations and men’s characters differ.
• Although he found Aristotelian philosophy barren, disputatious and
wrong in its objectives, He had a great reverence for Aristotle,
Field of Ethics:
Philosopher Famous Quotes / Golden Lines:
• Knowledge is power
• Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an
exact man
Do You Know This?
• George Edward Moore was an English philosopher. He is a cognitive
non naturalist.
• His influential work “Principia Ethica” is one of the main inspirations
of the movement against ethical naturalism and is partly responsible
for the twentieth-century concern with meta-ethics.
1. Naturalistic fallacy
2. Open Question Argument
3. Theory of Moral Intuitionism
G.E. Moore • Moore’s views on ethical subjects are closely related to David Hume’s
“is-ought” gap.
• Moore expressed his ethical views through terms like “Naturalistic
fallacy”, the Open question argument and intuitionism.
• Naturalistic Fallacy: Moore argued that we cannot equate moral
terms to natural terms and when one does try to do so they are
committing a Naturalistic Fallacy. Moore’s reasoning for this was based
upon David Hume’s “is-ought” problem.
• Open Question Argument: According to Moore, the term “good” (in
the sense of intrinsic value) is in fact indefinable, because it names
a simple, non-natural property, and cannot be analyzed in terms of
any other property. His argument (often called the Open Question
Argument) is that the question “What is good?” is an open one, because
«good» cannot be defined in terms of any natural property like “blue” or
Field of Ethics: Meta “rough” or “smooth” or “smelly”: it lacks natural properties.
Ethics (Cognitive Non • Theory of Moral Intuitionism: G E Moore declares that Intuition is
Naturalism) an innate ability or faculty to recognise good from bad. According
to him (he compares morality with colours) it is very difficult to define
red, blue, green but we can identify the red, blue, green. Similarly we can
identify moral correctness or wrongness based on one’s moral intuition.
• “A great artist is always before his time or behind it”.
• “Moral conduct, or duty, is defined as the obligation to select that action
which will achieve more good than any alternative action”.
• “For it is the business of Ethics, I must insist, not only to obtain true
results, but also to find valid reasons for them”.
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Do You Know This?

• George Berkeley was an Empiricist, Irish philosopher of the Age of
Enlightenment.
George Berkeley • He is best known for his theory of Immaterialism, a type of Idealism.
• He is sometimes considered the father of modern Idealism.
• Along with John Locke and David Hume, he is also a major figure in the
British Empiricism movement.
• At the age 25 years old, he published his first book “Treatise Concerning
the Principles of Human Knowledge”.

• The theory Immaterialism: The theory propounds the view that reality
consists exclusively of minds and their ideas, and that individuals can
only directly know sensations and ideas, not the objects themselves. It
Field of Ethics:
Philosopher was later referred to by others as Subjective Idealism.

• Truth is the cry of all, but the game of few.
• He who says there is no such thing as an honest man, you may be sure is
himself a knave.
Hanna Arendt Do You Know This?
• Hannah Arendt was an US philosopher and political theorist. Born in
Germany, a student of Martin Heidegger, she established her reputation
as a political thinker with one of the first works to propose that Nazism
and Stalinism had common roots.
• Notable works: The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951), Eichmann in
Jerusalem (1963), On Human Condition, and On Violence (1970).
Contributions to Ethics: :
1. Concept of Banality of Evil

• Well known for her concept of Banality of evil concept
Field of Ethics:
• The concept emerged in her book Eichmann In Jerusalem.
Philosopher
• She wants to know as to why in present times evil does not appear evil,
it has become banal or the normal, regular part of our day to day life.
Herbert Spencer Do You Know This?
• Herbert Spencer was an English philosopher, biologist, anthropologist,
sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the
Victorian era.
Contributions to Ethics: :
1. Spencer’s Egoism

• Herbert Spencer is best known for the expression “survival of the
fittest”, which he coined in Principles of Biology (1864), after reading
Field of Ethics: Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species.
Philosopher • This term, ‘”survival of the fittest”, strongly suggests natural selection,
yet as Spencer extended evolution into realms of sociology and ethics.
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Do You Know This?

• Henry David Thoreau was an American philosopher, naturalist,
writer and political activist of the early Modern period.
Henry David Thoreau • His philosophy of civil disobedience and non-violent resistance has
inspired many scholars like, Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhiji, and
Martin Luther King Jr etc.
• His writings on natural history anticipated the methods and findings of
modern ecology and environmentalism.
• Thoreau neither rejected civilization nor fully embraced wilderness.
Instead, he sought a middle ground, the pastoral realm that integrates
both nature and culture.
• He dedicated much of his life to the exploration of nature, not just as a
backdrop to human activity but as a living, integrated system of which
humanity is simply a part.
Field of Ethics:
Philosopher Famous Quotes / Golden Lines:
• Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have
imagined.
• That government is best which governs least.
• Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.
Do You Know This?
• Immanuel Kant was an influential German philosopher in the Age of
Enlightenment.
• Modern deontological ethics was introduced by Immanuel Kant in the
late 18th Century, with his theory of the Categorical Imperative.
1. Kantianism/ Kant’s ethics
2. Theory of categorical Imperative
3. Three formulations and morality:
a) Formula of Universality
Immanuel Kant b) The Formula of Humanity
c) The Formula of Autonomy
• Kant’s Deontological Ethics: Immanuel Kant’s ethics is based on
deontological moral theory–according to these theories, the rightness
or wrongness of actions does not depend on their consequences but on
whether they fulfill our duty.
• Theory of categorical Imperative: The categorical imperative is the
central philosophical concept in the deontological moral philosophy
of Immanuel Kant. Categorical imperative means an unconditional
(without any exceptions) command (order).
• Immanuel Kant’s- Three formulations and morality:
1. Formula of Universality and the Law of Nature: He says that act in
such a manner that the standard or principle underlying your action can
Field of Ethics: be adopted as a universal law by every individual in society.
Deontological Ethics
2. The Formula of Humanity: Treat humanity in yourself and everyone
else always as an end and never as a means to an end. Kant’s conception
of morality is deontological. In Kant’s view, morality has no connection
with one’s feelings, desires or happiness. It is duty for duty’s sake.
3. The Formula of Autonomy: It follows first two principles as the ultimate
condition of harmony with practical reason.
• Experience without theory is blind, but theory without experience is
mere intellectual play.
• Live your life as though your every act were to become a universal law.
• Thoughts without content are empty, intuitions without concepts are
blind
• Science is organized knowledge. Wisdom is organized life.
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• Jeremy Bentham was an English philosopher, jurist, and social reformer
and is regarded as the founder of modern utilitarianism.
• Jeremy Bentham (17481832) gave the first systematic account of
Utilitarianism in his book “Introduction to the Principles of Morals
and Legislation”.
• Act utilitarianism/ Quantitative Utilitarianism
• Principle of Utility – Greatest pleasure to Greatest number
Jeremy Bentham • Devised Hedonic Calculus to measure pleasure and pain.

• Act Utilitarianism: Jeremy Bentham saw human behaviour as
hedonistic. Jeremy Bentham view is known as act utilitarianism.
• Quantitative Utilitarianism: Bentham claimed that all human beings
seek pleasure and try to avoid pain. Bentham believes that all pleasures
are alike. Pleasures have only quantitative differences i.e. they are more
or they are less. Hence Benthamite utilitarianism is often called as
quantitative utilitarianism.
• Principle of Utility: In 1776, Jeremy Bentham first announced himself
to the world as a proponent of utility and declared utility as the guiding
principle of conduct and law. The underlying principle of utilitarianism
Field of Ethics: is that an action is right if it produces greatest good for the greatest
Utilitarianism number. He says that measuring the pleasure gives utility.
(Consequentialism • Hedonic Calculus: Bentham devised the Hedonic Calculus to
-Normative Ethics) calculate pleasure and pain. Based on this calculus one can weigh-out
the pleasure and pain of flowing from an action in a given situation by
focusing on seven things
1. Its intensity: How strong it is?
2. Its duration: How long it is?
3. Its certainty: How likely it could be?
4. Its propinquity: When it could arrive?
5. Its fecundity: If it could cause further pleasure?
6. Its purity: How free from pain it is?
7. Its extent: How many people are affected?

• The greatest happiness of the greatest number is the foundation of
morals and legislation.
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• Jean Paul Sartre was a French philosopher, play writer, novelist,
screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic.
Jean Paul Sartre • He was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism and
phenomenology, and one of the leading figures in 20th-century French
philosophy and Marxism.
• Jean Paul Sartre is regarded as the father of Existentialist philosophy.
1. Founded of Existentialism school of thought.
2. Propounded “The ethics of authenticity”
• Jean-Paul Sartre is the greatest proponent of existentialism and he is
regarded as the father of existential school of ethics.
• Existentialism: Existentialism is widely considered to be the
philosophical and cultural movement which holds that the starting point
of philosophical thinking must be the individual and the experiences of
Field of Ethics: the individual.
Existential Ethics • The central proposition of existentialism: “Existence Precedes
Essence”.
• The ethics of authenticity: The ’ethics of authenticity’ is at the very
heart of existentialism. Sartre very emphatically states that “Freedom,”
“Choice”, and “Self-Commitment.”, are the three pillars on which the ethic
of authenticity is erected.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau Do You Know This?
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer and
composer. His Discourse on Inequality and the Social Contract are
cornerstones in modern political and social thought.
• Jean-Jacques Rousseau, in his 1762 treatise “Du contract social”
(The Social Contract) outlined the social contract theory, based on the
conception of popular sovereignty.
1. Advocated Collective Form of Contact Theory.
2. General Will Concept
Field of Ethics: • Collectivist version of contract theory: Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Contractarianism outlined more of a collectivist version of contract theory rather an
individualist version, based on the conception of popular sovereignty.
• Rousseau’s version of the social contract is the one most often
associated with the term “social contract” itself. His theories had
a strong influence on both the 1789 French Revolution and the
subsequent formation of the Socialist movement.
• General Will Concept: He argued that, as an individual, the subject
can be egoist and decide that his personal interest should override the
collective interest. However, as part of a collective body, the individual
subject puts aside his Egoism to create a “general will” (the persistence
of equality and freedom in the society). Rousseau goes so far as to
indicate that people who do not obey the general will must be “forced
(Deontological Ethics)
to be free”.
• People who know little are usually great talkers, while men who know
much say little.
• The person who has lived the most is not the one with the most years but
the one with the richest experiences.
• Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains.
• Nature never deceives us; it is we who deceive ourselves.
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Jean Piaget Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development:

• Jean Piaget, a child psychologist, laid emphasis on how learners
interact with their environment and develop complex reasoning and
knowledge.
• Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development suggests that children
move through four different stages of mental development.
• His theory focuses not only on understanding how children acquire
knowledge, but also on understanding the nature of intelligence.
• The four stages of cognitive development are; the sensor motor stage,
preoperational stage, concrete operations, and formal operations:
1. Sensorimotor stage: Birth to 2 years
Field of Ethics:
2. Preoperational stage: Ages 2 to 7
Psychologist
3. Concrete operational stage: Ages 7 to 11
4. Formal operational stage: Ages 12 and up.
servant. He is One of the most influential thinkers in the history of classical
liberalism; He contributed widely to social theory, political theory, and
political economy.
• Educated by his father James Mill who was a close friend to Jeremy
Bentham, John Stuart Mill became a proponent of utilitarianism.
• Advocated Rule Utilitarianism /Qualitative Utilitarianism
• Concept of Long term and short term faculties
John Stuart Mill • Intellectual pleasures should be preferred rather bodily pleasures.

• Advocated Rule Utilitarianism: John Stuart Mill’s version of
utilitarianism is known as Rule-Utilitarianism. Rule utilitarianism
advocates Following Rules (As proposed by J.S. Mills):
1. Whether the acts are good or bad depends on moral rules.
2. Moral rules are chosen only on the basis of consequences of an action.
3. When an individual has the moral choice to make, they can ask themselves
if there is appropriate rule to apply.
4. Only that rule that should be adopted which produces best results and is
they are adopted by maximum people.
Field of Ethics: • Qualitative Utilitarianism: Mill believed that the aim of
Utilitarianism Utilitarianism is to promote happiness for maximum people and
(Consequentialism in order to promote happiness we must maximise pleasure and
-Normative Ethics) eliminate pain for the greatest number of people. According to Mill
some kinds of pleasure experienced by human beings also differ
from others in qualitative ways.
• Concept of Long term and short term faculties: He advocated to
prefer long term faculties (like wisdom, Justice, freedom etc) rather
than short term faculties while deciding upon any action.
• He also suggested to prefer the intellectual pleasures over the bodily
pleasures.

• It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to
be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied.
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• John Locke was an English philosopher and physician, widely
John Locke regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers and
commonly known as the “Father of Liberalism”.
• He is sometimes referred to as the “Philosopher of Freedom”, and his
political views influenced both the American and French Revolutions.
• Strengthened the social contract theory
• John Locke was also a Contractarian and believer of the Social
Contract Theory. John Locke developed the theory of social contact
further, arguing that this contract is only legitimate to the extent that it
Field of Ethics: meets the general interest of the people.
Contractarianism ( Famous Quotes / Golden Lines:
Deontological Ethics) • No man’s knowledge here can go beyond his experience
• Fortitude is the guard and support of the other virtues
Do You Know This?

• John Rawls was an American moral and political philosopher in
the liberal tradition. John Rawls’s famous publication is “A Theory of
Justice” (1971).
• He is one of the famous Contractarian.
1. Theory of Justice
2. Theory of Original Position
3. Veil of Ignorance
4. Concept of Reflective Equilibrium
5. Max - Min Principle.
John Rawls 6. Liberty Principle/ Principle of Equality/ Equal Opportunities.
7. Differential Principle
8. Contractualism.
• Theory of Justice: John Rawls’s “Theory of justice as fairness”
recommends equal basic rights, equality of opportunity, and promoting
the interests of the least advantaged members of society.
• Theory of original Position: Rawls thinks a just society will conform to
rules that everyone would agree to in the original position. The original
position is a hypothetical situation.
• Veil of Ignorance: The concept of veil of ignorance was conceptualized
Field of ethics: by John Rawls along with his concept of original position. The “veil
of ignorance” is a moral reasoning device designed to promote
Contractarianism
impartial decision making by denying decision makers access to
(Deontological Ethics) potentially biasing information about who will benefit most or least
from the available options. Fairness can be achieved through the veil
of ignorance.
• The fairest rules are those to which everyone would agree if they did not
know how much power they would have.
• A just society is a society that if you knew everything about it, you’d be
willing to enter it in a random place.
• An injustice is tolerable only when it is necessary to avoid an even greater
injustice
• The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance.
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Karl Marx Do You Know This?

• Karl Heinrich Marx (1818 - 1883) was a German philosopher, political
theorist and revolutionary of the 19th Century.
• Marx is often called the father of Communism, and certainly his Marxist
theory provided the intellectual base for various subsequent forms of
Communism
• In 1867, the first volume of his masterwork “Das Kapital” (“Capital”)
was published, which analyzed the capitalist process of production.
• Marx’s view of history, which came to be called historical materialism
(controversially adapted as the philosophy of dialectical materialism
by Engels and Lenin).
Field of Ethics: • The history of all previous societies has been the history of class
Philosopher struggles.
Do You Know This?

• Lawrence Kohlberg was an American psychologist best known for his
theory of stages of moral development.
• Even though it was considered unusual in his era, he decided to study
the topic of moral judgment, extending Jean Piaget’s account of
children’s moral development.
Lawrence Kohlberg Contributions to Ethics:
1. Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development.
2. Put forwarded Heinz dilemma – A case for Moral dilemma.
3. Advocated Ethics of Justice.
4. Criticized by Carrole Gilligan for his alleged gender based experiments
on Moral development.
• Lawrence Kohlberg expanded on the earlier work of cognitive theorist
Jean Piaget to explain the moral development of children.
• Kohlberg believed that moral development, like cognitive development,
follows a series of stages.
• He used the idea of moral dilemmas—stories that present conflicting
ideas. The best known moral dilemma created by Kohlberg is the “Heinz”
Field of Ethics: dilemma, which discusses the idea of obeying the law versus saving a
Psychologist life.
• Kohlberg defined three levels of moral development: pre
conventional, conventional, and post conventional.
• Each level has two distinct stages. Each level is associated with
increasingly complex stages of moral development.
Lao Tzu Do You Know This?
• Lao Tzu was an ancient Chinese philosopher and writer. He is
considered to be the father of Taoism.
• While Confucianism addresses conduct, social relationships and society,
Taoism deals more with individualistic character and a spiritual, nature-
centered approach to life.
• Lao Tzu is best known for penning the book “Tao Te Ching” meaning
“The Way and Its Power”
• Lao Tzu’s philosophy was a simple one. He was against putting effort
and striving, as he thought struggle is not only futile but also hinders
productivity.
• In his “Theory of wu-wei”, he advises to simply do nothing, means he
advised not to struggle to change the natural order of things, but to bring
Field of Ethics: Ancient spontaneity to one’s actions as one holds on to the nature’s way of life
Philosopher
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• Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while
they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single
step
• Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates
profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.
• To lead the people, walk behind them.
Do You Know This?
• Martin Luther King Jr. was an American activist who became the most
visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement from
1955 until his assassination in 1968.
• King is best known for advancing civil rights through nonviolence and
Martin Luther King Jr civil disobedience, inspired by the nonviolent activism of Mahatma
Gandhi.
• In 1964, King won the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial
inequality through nonviolent resistance.
• The life and philosophy of Martin Luther King, Jr. provides a text for
learning how to understand and live in a world of conflict and change
without creating conflict or be-coming a passive victim of the negative
conflict and violence.
• He taught that refusal to retaliate to violence was not an act of cowardness,
but could be an act of strength or even courage.
• Once he famously said that Nonviolence is not only standing against
what is wrong, but also standing for what is right.
Field of Ethics:
Philosopher/ Leader • Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot
drive out hate; only love can do that.
• Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
• The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think
critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education
• The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.
Do You Know This?
• Max Weber was a German sociologist, philosopher, jurist, and
political economist.
• Max Weber is known as a principal architect of modern social science
along with Karl Marx and Emil Durkheim.
Max Weber • Weber’s main intellectual concern was understanding the processes
of rationalisation, secularization, and “disenchantment”, which he
associated with the rise of capitalism and modernity.
Max Weber’s bureaucratic theory
• Max Weber’s Theory of Bureaucracy is one of the pioneer studies in
organizational models. Max Weber’s concept of bureaucracy is closely
related to his ideas on “legitimacy of authority”. It is famously referred
as Max Weber’s Legal-Rationality Model of Bureaucracy.
• The ideal-type construction of bureaucracy, propounded by Max
Weber, highlighted an ethical imperative of bureaucratic behaviour.
• Max-Weber’s six characteristics of bureaucracy:
1. Task Specialization (Division of Labour)
Field of Ethics:
2. Hierarchical layers of Authority
Philosopher 3. Formal Selection Process
4. Rules and Requirements
5. Impersonality and Personal indifference
6. Achievement based career orientation
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• Within the confines of the lecture hall, no other virtue exists but plain
intellectual integrity.
• One can say that three pre-eminent qualities are decisive for the
politician: passion, a feeling of responsibility, and a sense of proportion.
M C Parson • Advocated the Concept of creative freedom- i.e democratic freedom
must be innovative and creative.
Do You Know This?
• Montesquieu was a French Political philosopher. He is the principal
source of the theory of separation of powers, which is implemented in
many constitutions throughout the world.
• Montesquieu’s two most important works are the Persian Letters and
Montesquieu the Spirit of the Laws.
1. Advocated the philosophy of liberalism
2. Formulated the concept of “Trias politica” – “The theory of separation of
powers”.
3. Principle of Liberty
• Montesquieu is among the greatest philosophers of liberalism.
According to Montesquieu, political liberty is “a tranquility of mind
arising from the opinion each person has of his safety”.
• Trias Politica/ Theory of Separation of Powers: Montesquieu,
however, is most renowned for his concept called trias politica.
Field of Ethics: “Ttrias politica” is the philosophy that calls for a strict separation
Philosopher between three independent powers in every nation i.e legislation,
administration, and judiciary organs.
• Liberty is the right of doing whatever the laws permit.
• The love of democracy is that of equality.
Do You Know This?
• Nelson Mandela was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary,
political leader, and philanthropist who served as President of South
Africa from 1994 to 1999.
• Nelson Mandela received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his life long
struggle for human rights.
Nelson Mandela Core Thoughts and Ethical Views
• Nelson Mandela is universally acknowledged as the embodiment of
magnanimity and reconciliation.
• According to Mandela Passion produces perseverance and all changes
in status quo are difficult to achieve without perseverance.
• Mandela’s world view is that of forgiveness and reconciliation, he
holds these values very dear.
• Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the
world
• Live life as though nobody is watching, and express yourself as though
everyone is listening.
Field of Ethics: • To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that
respects and enhances the freedom of others.
Philosopher/ Leader • One of the most difficult things is not to change society — but to change
yourself.
• Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell
down and got back up again.
• Action without vision is only passing time, vision without action is
merely day dreaming, but vision with action can change the world.
• A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.
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• Nicolo Machiavelli (1469 - 1527) was an Italian philosopher, political
theorist, diplomat, musician and writer of the Renaissance period.
• He was a central figure in the political scene of the Italian Renaissance.
1. Three Primary Political Goods – National security, National Independence,
and a Strong Constitution.
2. Machiavelli’s Concept of Virtues.
3. Characteristics of a Successful Leader (The Idea of Good Leader).
4. Devotion towards Motherland/ Patriotism.
Nicolo Machiavelli • Primary Political Goods: Machiavelli thinks that there are
three primary political ‘Goods’ viz. national security, national
independence, and a strong constitution.
• Concept of virtues: Machiavelli Defines virtues as the range of
capacities that each citizen needs to possess; the capacities that enable
them to serve the common good, thereby to uphold the freedom of their
community, and its consequence to ensure its rise to greatness as well as
their own liberty
• He describes virtues as the qualities that are praised by others, such
as generosity, compassion, and piety etc. virtues and vices should be
conceived as means to an end.
• The idea of a Leader: A successful Machiavellian leader consists of
five crucial characteristics and traits. These traits are the deciding
factor in whether or not the leader will be successful. These necessary
characteristics include:
Field of Ethics: Virtue 1. Being feared or loved but not hated,
Ethics 2. Having the people’s support,
3. Convincingly displaying virtues,
4. Using one’s own arms, and
5. Intelligence.
• Vices should not be pursued for their own sake, just as virtues should
not be pursued for its own sake.
• He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command.
• Where the willingness is great, the difficulties cannot be great.
• Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really
are.
• Interest of mother land is ultimate.
Peter Salovey and Mayer’s Model of emotional Intelligence
Peter Salovey and Mayer
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• Plato was an Athenian philosopher and he was a disciple of Socrates.
• Plato was not only a great philosopher but also a great literary genius.
• Plato was the innovator of the written dialogue and dialectic forms
in philosophy.
1. Doctrine of Cardinal Virtues.
2. Plato’s theory of Virtue.
3. Concept of Justice.
4. Plato’s Idea of Good.
5. Concept of Social Contract.
Core Thoughts And Ethical Views:
• Plato’s Doctrine of Cardinal Virtues: Plato has described four
Plato important virtues in his theory of Morality.
1. Wisdom
2. Courage
3. Temperance
4. Justice
• Plato’s theory of Virtue: Plato divides soul into three elements as
rational element (Intellectual element), spirited element (Dynamic/
executive element) and appetitive element (Passionate Element). He
associates different virtues with each part of the soul.
• Concept of Justice: Justice refers to the harmonious functioning of the
related elements of the soul–the appetitive, the spirited and the rational
element.
Field of Ethics: Virtue • Plato’s Idea of Good: For Plato the good has unconditional worth and is
Ethics the source of worth in various things.
• Concept of Social contract: Plato in his Socratic dialogue “Crito” first
pointed out that members within a society implicitly agree to the terms
of a kind of social contract by their choice to stay within the society.
• If you want to be a virtuous person then hinge your moral character to
the 4 cardinal Virtues.
• Moral beings are not born but made through education.
• Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.
Ralph Cud worth Do You Know This?
• Ralph Cud worth was an English Anglican clergy man, theologian and
philosopher, and a leading figure among the Cambridge Platonists.
• In 1678, Cud worth published “The True Intellectual System of the
Universe” - the first part, wherein all the reason and philosophy of
atheism is confuted and its impossibility demonstrated
• In ethics, Cud worth’s outstanding work is A Treatise Concerning
Eternal and Immutable Morality.
• His works are directed against Puritan Calvinism, against the
divine omnipotence discussed by René Descartes, and against the
Field of Ethics: Hobbesian reduction of morality to civil obedience.
Philosopher
Rene Descartes Do You Know This?
• René Descartes was a French philosopher, mathematician, scientist
and writer of the age of reason.
• He has been called the “Father of Modern Philosophy”. He was a
pioneer and major figure in 17th Century Continental Rationalism
(often known as Cartesian ism).
Field of Ethics:
Philosopher
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R. M. Hare Do You Know This?

• R. M. Hare was an English moral philosopher. Hare was greatly
influenced by the Emotivism of A. J. Ayer and Charles L. Stevenson.
• Hare is best known for his development of prescriptivism as a meta-
ethical theory, the analysis of formal features of moral discourse
justifying preference utilitarianism
1. Prescriptivism
• Prescriptivism: R. M. Hare argued that one makes moral statement
they are not just expressing their belief but they are prescribing or
Field of Ethics: recommending a course of action-A way one should behave.
Meta Ethics (Non • Prescriptivism gives greater role to Rationalism and says that morality
Cognitivism) is subjected to rationalism.
Do You Know This?
• Robert Nozick was an American philosopher. He was one of the most
important and influential political philosophers, along with John Rawls,
in the Anglo-American analytic tradition.
• His most celebrated book is “Anarchy, State, and Utopia”.
Robert Nozick
1. Conditional Theory of Knowledge
2. Theory of Distributive Entitlement
3. Distributive Justice and Private Property Theory.
4. Minimal state concept: Night Watchman Role of State
5. Philosophy of Libertarianism
• Libertarianism is a political philosophy holding that the role of the
state in society ought to be severely limited. Nozick’s main defense of
libertarianism is a moral one.
• Nozick takes his position to follow from a basic moral principle associated
with Immanuel Kant and enshrined in Kant’s second formulation of
Field of Ethics:
his famous Categorical Imperative: “Act so that you treat humanity,
Philosopher whether in your own person or in that of another, always as an end
and never as a means only.”
• The minimal state constitutes in Nozick’s view a kind of utopia. He
says that minimal state is an overarching system within the boundaries
of which any number of social, moral, and religious utopian visions may
be realized.
Tripartite model of attitude structure
• Rosenberg and Hovland have expressed the tripartite model of
Rosenberg and Hovland attitude structure and stated that an attitude contains cognitive,
affective, and behavioural components.
• The multi-component model known as the ABC Model or CAB Model
forms the structure of Attitude.
The components of the CAB model:
1. Cognitive Component – This involves the person’s learning, knowledge,
beliefs, and thoughts about the attitude-object. For example: “I believe
snakes are dangerous”.
2. Affective Component – This involves a person’s feelings, emotions
about the attitude object. For example: “I am scared of snakes”.
3. Behavioural Component - This involves the past behaviours or
experiences regarding the attitude object. For example: “I will avoid
snakes and scream if I see one”.
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• Socrates (c. 469 - 399 B.C.) was a Greek philosopher from the
Classical period and he is considered as one of the founders of western
philosophy.
• He is widely popular as the First Moral Philosopher of the Western
ethical tradition of thought.
• Socrates was a reflective moralist who analysed the moral categories
then emerging into contemporary discourse.
• In 399 B.C.E., Socrates — The father of Greek philosophy — was put
on trial for impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens.
Socrates Contributions to Ethics:
1. Moral Intellectualism
2. Advocated Mild Ascetism
3. Devine Magnum/ Demonic sound
4. Socratic Method/ Elenchus
• Socrates thought that “knowledge is virtue and virtue leads to
happiness”.
• Propounded Moral Intellectualism: Socrates holds that no one
knowingly does what is bad. This view is known as moral intellectualism.
• Advocated Mild Ascetism: Socrates advocates mild asceticism. I.e No
Field of Ethics: Virtue need to give up all pleasures in life, one can retain ordinary pleasures.
Ethics • Divine Magnum: Advocated the concept of Divine Magnum/ Demonic
sound.
• Socratic Method/ Elenchus: one of the most important and enduring
contribution of Socrates to Western thought is his dialectical method
of inquiry, which he referred to as “elenchus” (roughly, “cross-
examination”) but which has become known as the Socratic Method or
Socratic Debate.
• An unexamined life is not worth living.
• True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing.
• Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel.
Do You Know This?
• St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was an Italian philosopher and
Catholic priest.
St. Thomas Aquinas • He was an intent based agent centric deontologist.
• He was the foremost classical proponent of natural theology and the
father of Thomism; of which he argued that reason is found in God.
• His publication named “Summa Theologica” is often considered second
only to the Bible in importance to the Roman Catholic Church, and
arguably one of the most influential philosophies of all time.
1. Intent Based Agent Centric Deontological Ethics
2. Doctrine of Double Effect
• The moral philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas involves a merger of at
Field of Ethics: least two apparently disparate traditions: Aristotelian Eudemonism and
Deontological Ethics Christian theology.
• Saint Thomas Aquinas is credited with introducing the principle of
double effect in his discussion of the permissibility of self-defense in
the Summa Theologica.
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• According to the principle of double effect, sometimes it is permissible

to cause a harm as a side effect (or “double effect”) of bringing about
a good result even though it would not be permissible to cause such a
harm as a means to bringing about the same good end.
• Criteria to define acts with double effects:
1. The action must be inherently good
2. The good should not flow from the bad rather both should flow from the
Action itself.
3. Comparatively the proportion of good should be larger than the
proportion of bad.
• Utility of Doctrine of Double Effect: The doctrine (or principle) of
double effect is often invoked to explain the permissibility of an action
that causes a serious harm, such as the death of a human being, as a side
effect of promoting some good end.
• To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith,
no explanation is possible.
• Love takes up where knowledge leaves off.
Do You Know This?
• Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of
psychoanalysis. He is a physician and developed the psychoanalytic
theory of personality development
• In 1999, Time Magazine referred to Freud as one of the most important
Sigmund Freud thinkers of the last century.
• Freud’s most important contribution to the field of psychology was the
development of talk therapy as an approach to treating mental health
problems.
1. Identified the tripartite structure of human psyche.
2. Explained conscience as an effect of the super-ego.
3. Psychoanalytical theory of personality development.
• Sigmund Freud has identified the tripartite structure of human
psyche: Id, ego and superego, all developing at different stages in our
lives. These are systems, not anatomical units of brain.
Field of ethics: • Sigmund Freud analyzed conscience as an effect of the super-ego;
Psychologist as we grow up, natural instincts such as aggression and sexual desire
must be frequently frustrated, and even punished, by parents and peers,
in order for us to develop into well-adjusted members of society. This
process creates the super-ego, where we internalize the beliefs, implicit
or explicit, about right and wrong in our culture and the super-ego
causes us to feel guilt or anxiety when we violate them.
Thomas Hobbes Do You Know This?
• Thomas Hobbes was an English philosopher, and is considered to be
one of the founders of modern political philosophy.
• Hobbes is best known for his book Leviathan (1651), which expounded
an influential formulation of social contract theory.
• Thomas Hobbes was one of the Contractarian and believer of the
Social Contract Theory.
• Formulation of social contract theory
Field of Ethics: • Social contract is the idea that the people give up some rights to
Contractarianism a government and/or other authority in order to receive, or jointly
(Deontological Ethics) preserve, social order.
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• Thomas Hobbes took the theory of social contract forward in a more

explicit way.
• He argued that, in a primitive unstructured social order individuals
have unlimited natural freedoms and their words or actions are bound
only by their consciences. Hobbes was of the opinion that humans are
by their very nature nasty and mean.
• It is therefore, he argued, in an individual’s rational self-interest to
voluntarily subjugate his freedom of action in order to obtain the
benefits provided by the formation of social structures and civil rights.
• Force and fraud are in war the two cardinal virtues.
• It is not wisdom but Authority that makes a law.
Voltaire Do You Know This?
• Voltaire was a French philosopher and writer of the Age of
Enlightenment.
• He was an outspoken supporter of social reforms (including the defense
of civil liberties, freedom of religion and free trade).
• Along with John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and Jean Jacques Rousseau, his
works and ideas influenced important thinkers of both the American
and French Revolutions
• Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit
atrocities.
Field of Ethics: • Judge of a man by his questions rather than by his answers
Philosopher • If there were no God, it would be necessary to invent him.
Do You Know This?
• Sir William David Ross was a Scottish philosopher who is known for
his works in ethics.
• W.D. Ross is perhaps best known for developing a pluralist,
deontological form of intuitionist ethics in response to G. E. Moore’s
consequentialist form of intuitionism.
W.D. Ross • W. D. Ross was a moral realist, a non-naturalist, and an intuitionist.
His greatest contribution to the world of ethics is his formulation of
Pluralistic Deontology.
1. Rossian Deontological Ethics
2. Formulation of Pluralistic Deontology/ Doctrine of Pluralism
a) Prima Fascie Duties
b) Actual Duties
3. Paradox of Deontology
4. Supported moral relativism despite being deontologist.
Field of Ethics:
Rossian Pluralistic Deontology/ Doctrine of Pluralism: W. D. Ross suggested
Deontological Ethics that it would be helpful to look at two kinds of duty, which are as follows:
a) Prima Fascie Duties

b) Actual Duties
a) Prima Facie Duties: These are the duties that are evident at any given
point and present themselves in an explicit fashion whenever a moral
agent is about to perform an action.
• W. D. Ross argues that there are seven prima facie duties which need
to be taken into consider action when deciding which duty should be
acted upon:
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1. Duty of beneficence (to help other people to increase their pleasure,

improve their character, etc).
2. Duty of non-malfeasance (to avoid harming other people).
3. Duty of justice (to ensure people get what they deserve).
4. Duty of self-improvement (to improve ourselves).
5. Duty of reparation (to recompense someone if you have acted
wrongly towards them).
6. Duty of gratitude (to benefit people who have benefited us).
7. Duty of promise-keeping (to act according to explicit and implicit
promises, including the implicit promise to tell the truth).
b) Actual Duties: These are the duties that should be performed by an
individual agent and the morality must be judged based upon these
duties only.
Do You Know This?
• Zeno of Citium was a Hellenistic philosopher from Citium, Cyprus.
• Zeno was the founder of the Stoic school of philosophy, which he
taught in Athens from about 300 BC.
• Based on the moral ideas of the Cynics, Stoicism laid great emphasis
on goodness and peace of mind gained from living a life of virtue in
Zeno of Citium accordance with nature.
1. Founded Stoicism/ Stoic school of philosophy.
2. Advocated self control ad Fortitude as a means overcoming destructive
emotions.
• Stoicism first appeared in Athens in the period around 300 B.C. and was
introduced by Zeno of Citium.
• It teaches the development of self-control and fortitude as a means of
overcoming destructive emotions and seeks to transform them by a
resolute Asceticism (voluntary abstinence from worldly pleasures).
• The goal of Stoicism is freedom from passion (in the ancient sense of
“anguish” or “suffering”) through the pursuit of reason and “apatheia”
(apathy, in its ancient sense of being objective, unemotional and having
clear judgment).
• It teaches indifference and a “passive” reaction to external events (on
the grounds that nothing external could be either good or evil) and
equanimity in the face of life’s highs and lows.
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PART - B
INDIAN THINKERS AND PHILOSOPHERS
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INDEX
1. Adi Sankaracharya ------------------------31 24. Madhvachary --------------------------------44
2. Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam --------------------31 25. M N Roy ---------------------------------------44
3. Ashoka The Great --------------------------32 26. Mother Theresa -----------------------------45
4. Aurobindo Ghosh --------------------------33 27. Nimbarka ------------------------------------45
5. Anna Hazare --------------------------------33 28. Nagarjuna -----------------------------------45
6. Baba Amte ----------------------------------- 34 29. E.M.S. Namboodiripad -------------------46
7. Basavanna -----------------------------------34 30. Patanjali Maharshi ------------------------46
31. Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay ----------------47

8. Dr B.R. Ambedkar -------------------------35
32. Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya -------------47
9. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay ------35
33. Rabindranath Tagore --------------------47
10. Charvaka -----------------------------------36
34. Raja Ram Mohan Roy ---------------------48
11. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ----------------36
35. Rama Krishna Paramahansa-------------49
12. Dignaga -------------------------------------36
36 Ramanujacharya ---------------------------49
13. Gautama Buddha -------------------------37
37. Ram Manohar Lohia ----------------------50
14. Gautama Muni ----------------------------38
38. Ramana Maharshi -------------------------50
15. Guru Nanak --------------------------------38
39. Sant Kabir Das -----------------------------50
16. Guru Ravidas ------------------------------38
40. Sarvepalli Radha Krishnan -------------51
17. Ishwar Chandra Vidhyasagar ---------39
41. Swami Dayanand Saraswati ------------51
18. Jiddu Krishnamurti ---------------------39
42. Thiruvalluvar ------------------------------52
19. Jotiba Phule -------------------------------40
43. Vardhamana Mahavira -------------------52
20. Kautilya ------------------------------------40
44. Vallabhacharya ----------------------------53
21. Lal Bahadur Shastri ---------------------41
45. M Vishveshwariah -------------------------53
22. Mahatma Gandhi -------------------------42
46. Vivekananda --------------------------------54
23. Makkhali Gosala -------------------------43
47. Yajnavalkya ---------------------------------55
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MORAL THINKER
/ PHILOSOPHER/ CORE THOUGHTS / ETHICAL VIEWS/ CONTRIBUTIONS TO ETHICS
LEADER
Do You Know This?
• Adi Sankaracharya was an early 8th century Indian philosopher and
theologian who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta.
• His works in Sanskrit discuss the Unity of the Atman and Nirguna Brahman
“Brahman without attributes”.
• He was responsible for reviving Hinduism in India to a great extent when
Adi Buddhism was gaining popularity.
Sankaracharya Contributions to Ethics and Philosophy:
1. Propounded Advaita philosophy (The Doctrine of Non Dualism)
2. Advocated Idea of Universal being.

Advaita philosophy (The doctrine of Non Dualism)
• Advaita philosophy: It states that both the individual self (Atman) and Brahman
are the same, and knowing this difference causes liberation.
• The basic theme of Advaita is that the one unchanging entity (Brahman) alone
is real while changing entities do not have absolute existence. The world is Maya
or illusion and only the Self is real. A person who realizes this attains moksha
(liberation of the soul).
• The doctrine says that there is no difference between the Atman and the
Brahman. The individual soul is not different from Brahman. Hence, its name
Advaita meaning non-dualism.
• Advaita philosophy promotes universal unity and eclectic thinking rising
above all narrow considerations in society.
• He preached renunciation and adoption of the knowledge path to realise
Brahman.
Do You Know This?
• Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam was an Indian aerospace scientist
and statesman who served as the 11th President of India.
• He served at the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO)
and Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• Dr. Abdul Kalam was also known as the People’s President.
• He came to be known as the Missile Man of India. He also played a pivotal
organizational, technical, and political role in India’s Pokhran-II nuclear tests
Dr. A.P.J. Abdul
in 1998.
Kalam
• He was a recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Bharat Ratna,
India’s highest civilian honour.
Contributions to Ethics and Philosophy:
1. Known for his Impeccable Dedication, Empathy and Integrity.
2. Practiced Simple and modest way of life.
3. Promoted scientific temper in the young minds.
• Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam is a very good example of an ethical leader. He had a
noble mind, strongly believed in simplicity and he is an exemplary personality
for his dedication, empathy and integrity.
• He was a visionary who had immense faith in the ability of the human mind. He
upheld the virtues of a citizen and, as a scientist, always combined ethics
with science.
• Mr. Kalam was not swayed by power but used love and peace as tools to be one
among the masses.
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• For him integrity was an inseparable trait of, that helps in building a strong
ethically upright character.
• Do you know that Abdul Kalam with the cardiologist Soma Raju in 1998
developed a low-cost coronary stent named “Kalam-Raju Stent”? Further in
2012, a rugged tablet computer for health care in rural areas is designed which
was named “Kalam-Raju Tablet”.
• If you want to shine like a sun, first burn like a sun.
• Winners are not those who never fail but those who never quit.
• Science is a beautiful gift to humanity; we should not distort it.
• Knowledge without action is useless and irrelevant. Knowledge with action
converts adversity into prosperity.”
• “Education gives you wings to fly. Achievement comes out of fire in our
subconscious mind that ‘I will win.”
• “A Leader must have a ‘Vision’ for an organisation, ‘Passion’ to work for achieving
the goals, ‘Curiosity’ to travel an unexplored path and ‘Courage’ to take decisions.”
• “For great men religion is a way of making friends; small people make religion a
fighting tool.”
• “There is enough on this earth for everyone’s need but for no one’s greed.”
• “All Birds find shelter during the rain. But Eagle avoids rain by flying above the
Clouds.”
• “The world today is integrally connected through four rapid connectivities. They
are the environment, people, economy, and ideas.”
• If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I
strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference.
They are the father, the mother and the teacher.
• Where there is righteousness in the heart, there is harmony in the house; when
there is harmony in the house, there is order in the nation; when there is order
in the nation, there is peace in the world.
Do You Know This?
• Ashoka the Great was the emperor of India’s Maurya Dynasty from 268 to
232 BCE and is remembered for his remarkable conversion to nonviolence and
his merciful reign.
• The name “A-shoka” literally means “without sorrow”. According to an
Ashoka The Great Ashokavadana legend, his mother gave him this name because his birth removed
her sorrows.
• Ashoka waged a destructive war against the state of Kalinga which he
conquered in about 260 BCE.
• In 265 BCE after witnessing the devastation of his own attack on the Kalinga
region, he converted from being a brutal conqueror of a vast empire to a
benevolent emperor who successfully ruled according to nonviolent principles.
1. Propounded the value of Benevolence through his concept of Dhamma.
2. Animal Ethics – Respect towards Animal life/ animal welfare Practices.
3. Practiced Fairness in Exercise of Justice – Showed Great Concern and Kindness
to prisoners.
4. His moral precepts were based on Doing good deeds, Respect for others,
generosity and purity etc.
• Advocated for Religious Tolerance and Communal Harmony: Through
principles of Dhamma Ashoka pleaded for tolerance of different religious sects
in an attempt to create a sense of harmony.
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• Humanity and Virtuous life: The policy of dhamma also stressed on the
notion of showing consideration towards slaves and servants; there is stress on
obedience to elders; generosity towards the needy, Brahmans etc.
• Respect for Animal Life: The policy of Dhamma also laid stress on non-violence,
which was to be practiced by giving up war and conquests and also as a restraint
on the killing of animals.
• Welfare and Service Oriented Administration: The policy of Dhamma also
included other welfare measures, like the planting of trees and digging of wells.
• Preferred to follow Dhammaghosha over Berighosha: Dhammaghosha
means beat of Dhamma. Ashoka after the Kalinga war dismayed with bloodshed
and killing wanted to change from Berighosha (beat of war/ sound of war) to
Dhammaghosha (beat of dhamma/ sound of dharma). He wanted to rule people
with dhamma instead of atrocities, tyranny.
• “Dharma is good. And what is Dharma? It is having few faults and many good
deeds, mercy, charity, truthfulness, and purity.”
Do You Know This?
• Aurobindo Ghosh was a great scholar, litterateur, philosopher, patriot, social
reformer and visionary personality.
• Aurobindo studied for the Indian Civil Service at King’s College, Cambridge,
Aurobindo Ghosh England.
• Aurobindo was a prolific writer. He wrote many works with a view to enlighten
human souls.
• His major works include: The Life Divine, The Synthesis of Yoga, Essays on the
Gita, Commentaries on the Isha Upanishad, Powers Within.
• He also wrote The Foundations of Indian Culture, The Ideal of Human Unity, The
Future Poetry, The Secret of the Veda and The Human Cycle. His other famous
work is Savitri, a great epic of 23,837lines directing man towards the Supreme
Being.
• At a philosophical plane, Aurobindo Ghosh claimed that he acknowledges the
divergence between Indian ascetic transcendental idealism and Western
secularist materialism.
• According to him, the Indian mind had achieved tremendous credit in the realm
of intellectual, vitalistic and political activities, and its supremacy is evident
in the writings of Vedantic sages and teachings of Buddha.
• Aurobindo believed in spiritual determinism in history.
• He Practiced “Internal Yoga” for many years. It is the route to acquire spiritual
elevation. It embraces various aspects such as the mind, will, heart, life and body
Do You Know This?
• Kisan Baburao Hazare popularly known as Anna Hazare is an Indian social
Anna Hazare
activist who led movements to promote rural development, increase
government transparency, and investigate and punish corruption in public
life.
• In addition to organising and encouraging grassroots movements, Hazare
frequently conducted hunger strikes to further his causes—a tactic reminiscent,
to many, of the work of Mohandas K. Gandhi.
• Hazare started a hunger strike on 5 April 2011 to exert pressure on the Indian
government to enact a stringent anti-corruption law, The Lokpal Bill, 2011
as envisaged in the Jan Lokpal Bill, for the institution of an ombudsman with
the power to deal with corruption in public places.
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Do You Know This?

• Murlidhar Devidas Amte, commonly known as Baba Amte, was an Indian
social worker and social activist known particularly for his work for the
rehabilitation and empowerment of people suffering from leprosy.
• Baba Amte dedicated his life to serve the downtrodden people of the society.
• He was influenced by the words and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and
left his successful law practice to join I’s struggle for independence.
Baba Amte • For his humanitarian work, he received a number of prestigious awards including
the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 1985.
1. An Epitome of Compassion and empathy
2. Propounded Gandhian ethics and Gandhian way of life.
3. Practiced and Promoted Environmental ethics.
4. Strived for Social Justice
• Baba Amte’s ethics is ingrained in human dignity, service, courage and
social justice.
• Baba Amte is hailed as the last of the true followers of Gandhi’s philosophy.
He not only internalised the philosophies directed by the Mahatma, but also
embraced the Gandhian way of life.
• He inherited the Mahatma’s spirit of standing up for injustice in society and
serving the downtrodden classes.
• Purna swaraj can only be possible when the poorest of the poor is uplifted.
• Happiness dies when it is not shared.
Do You Know This?
• Basavanna was a 12th-century philosopher, statesman, Kannada poet and a
social reformer.
• Basavanna spread social awareness through his poetry, popularly known as
Vachanaas. He rejected the gender or social discrimination, superstitions and
rituals.
• He introduced new public institutions such as the Anubhava Mantapa (or,
the “hall of spiritual experience”).
Basavanna Contributions to Ethics:

1. Advocated That Morally Wrong Cannot Be Politically Right.
2. Laid Foundation for Democratic Values Such as Egalitarianism.
3. Actively Advocated for Dignity of Manual labour
4. Proposed that Humanity should be the ultimate goal and objective all societies.
• As a social reformer: He worked towards uplifting the underprivileged classes
& women and believed that all humans are equal, irrespective of class, caste,
creed, and gender.
• He preached that there is only one Supreme Being and that is Shiva and that
all animate and inanimate are equal before the Supreme Being.
• Sharana movement: Preaching egalitarianism, the movement was presided
over by Basavanna.
• Socio-economic principles: He gave two very important socio-economic
principles:
1. “Kayaka” (Work-Divine work)- According to this, every individual of
society should take up the job of his choice and perform it with all sincerity.
2. “Dasoha” (Distribution-Equal distribution)-There is no discrimination in
vocation.
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Do You Know This?

• Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, also known as Baba Saheb Ambedkar, was an
Indian jurist, economist, politician and social reformer.
• He is also known as “The Father of Indian Constitution”.
• Ambedkar was appointed as I’s first Law Minister in the Cabinet of Jawaharlal
Nehru.
• He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, I’s highest civilian honor, in
1990.
Dr B.R. Ambedkar Contributions to Ethics and Philosophy:
1. Advocated Constitutional Morality.
2. Conscience Keeper of Modern I.
3. Advocated that Inclusive Democracy is Not Possible Without Social Justice.

• Dr. Ambedkar devoted his whole life to fight for the annihilation of caste by
Proliferating a movement against the evils of the caste system.
• He stood for a complete reorganization and reconstruction of the society on the
principle of equality.
• He advocated a society based on three fundamental principles of liberty,
equality, and fraternity. He believed that Economic and Political issues must
be resolved only after achieving the goal of social justice.
• He insisted on secular education to instill values of liberty and equality among
the students.
• Cultivation of mind should be the ultimate aim of human existence.
• So long as you do not achieve social liberty, whatever freedom is provided by the
law is of no avail to you.
• I measure the progress of a community by the degree of progress which women
have achieved.
• “Humans are mortal. So are ideas. An idea needs propagation as much as a plant
needs watering. Otherwise both will wither and die.”
• “Equality may be a fiction but nonetheless one must accept it as a governing
principle.”
• “A great man is different from an eminent one in that he is ready to be the servant
of the society.
Do You Know This?
• Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay was a revolutionary novelist, poet and
journalist.
Bankim Chandra • He was the composer of Vande Mataram, originally in Sanskrit, personifying
Chattopadhyay India as a mother goddess and inspiring activists during the Indian Independence
Movement.
• Chattopadhyay wrote fourteen novels and many serious, serio-comic, satirical,
scientific and critical treatises in Bengali.
• He is known as Sahitya Samrat (Emperor of Literature) in Bengali.
• Expounded the Idea of Nationalism: He was probably the first systematic
expounder of the idea of Nationalism in India. His unique contribution lay in
conceptualizing nationalism in indigenous terms.
• Advocated for National Solidarity: What was primary in Bankim Chandra’s
thought was his concern for national solidarity for an independent growth of the
Hindu society.
• He propounded the idea of duty towards the nation.
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Do You Know This?

• Charvaka is considered to be the founder of Charvaka School of philosophy
which is also known as Lokayata School. This school may be called one of the
oldest school of Indian materialism.

Charvaka Charvaka / Lokayata School of Philosophy:
• Nature of Philosophy: Charvaka / Lokayata philosophy is a heterodox
school/ Nastika school of Indian philosophy. It does not believe in the authority
of the Vedas.
• Founder: Founder of this school is shrouded in mystery. However, It is said that
Charvaka himself is the founder but it is also said that Brihaspati is another
founder, so this school is also known as Brihaspatya. Ajita Kesakambali is thought
to be the first Caravaka.
• Materialistic Nature: Charvaka derives its name from its philosophy of Eat,
Drink & Be merry. Propounds that matter is the only reality.
• It rejects Vedas, rejects ritualism of Vedas and does not believe in god or any
other super natural power. Most of its literature is now lost and it is also not a
living tradition as of now.
• Charvaka philosophy focuses mainly on these three issues:
1. Metaphysics
2. Epistemology (Corner Stone of Charvaka Philosophy)
3. Ethics
Do You Know This?
• Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was a 15th century Indian saint considered to be the
Chaitanya combined avatar of Radha and Krishna by his disciples.
• Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s mode of worshipping Krishna with ecstatic song and
Mahaprabhu
dance had a profound effect on Vaishnavism in Bengal.
• He was also the chief proponent of the Vedantic philosophy of Achintya
Bheda Abheda Tattva.

Achintya Bheda Abheda
• It emphasizes that the individual self (Jīvatman) is both different and not
different from Brahman, representing the philosophy of inconceivable one-ness
and difference.
• It combines both Monism and Dualism by stating that the soul is both distinct
and non distinct from Krishna, or God.
• It also tries to differentiate Gaudiya (Bengal Tradition) tradition from other
Vaishnava sampradayas.
Do You Know This?
• Dignāga was an Indian Buddhist scholar and founder of the Buddhist school of
epistemology and logic in India.
• Dignāga first belonged to the Vātsīputrīya school of Hinayana Buddhism, but
unconvinced of the adequacy of its doctrine, he left the school.
Dignaga
• The Yogacara Doctrine: Dignaga was a proponent of the Yogacara doctrine, the
fundamental doctrine of the Yogacara School is ‘that all phenomenal existence
is fabricated by consciousness’. Consciousness is the basis of all activities from
birth to attaining enlightenment.
• Yogacara philosophy is primarily meant to aid in the practice of yoga and
meditation and thus it also sets forth a systematic analysis of the Mahayana path
of mental training
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• Yogacara doctrine is also variously termed as Vignanavada (the doctrine

of consciousness), Vijñaptivāda (the doctrine of ideas or percepts) or
Vijñaptimātratā-vāda (the doctrine of ‘mere representation), which is also the
name given to its major epistemic theory.
• Dignaga’s work laid the groundwork for the development of deductive logic in
India and created the first system of Buddhist logic and epistemology.
Do You Know This?
• Gautama Buddha also known as Siddhartha and Sakyamuni. He was a
philosopher, mendicant, meditator, spiritual teacher, and religious leader
thought to have lived in India from 563 B.C. to 483 B.C.
• The Buddha’s teaching formed the foundation for Buddhist philosophy across
the world.
• He is known as the light of Asia and contributed to many areas of philosophy,
including epistemology, metaphysics and ethics.
1. Advocated Middle Path/ Madhyama Marga
2. Emphasized The Four Noble Truths.
3. The Eightfold Path for Liberation/ Noble Paths for Ethical Living.
Gautama Buddha 4. Thought The Value of “Non Violence”.
5. Advocated That Happiness Is A Myth.
6. Promoted Inclusive Compassion.
• Buddha’s Middle Path/ Madhyama Marga: Buddha seeks a middle way between
the extremes of dogmatism and skepticism. It refers to steer a middle course of
action between the extremes of asceticism and bodily denial (as practiced by the
Jains and other ascetic groups) and sensual hedonism or indulgence.
• Basis of Morality: Buddhist morality judges an action whether it is good or bad
based on the intention or motivation from which it originates.
• The core of Buddhist teachings is encapsulated in the four noble truths.
The truths are:
1. Dukkha (suffering, incapable of satisfying, painful) is an innate characteristic
of existence with each rebirth;
2. Samudaya (origin, cause) of this dukkha is the “craving, desire or
attachment”;
3. Nirodha (cessation, ending) of this dukkha can be attained by eliminating all
“craving, desire, and attachment”;
4. Magga (path, Noble Eightfold Path) is the means to end this dukkha.
• The Eightfold Path: The eight parts of the path to liberation are grouped into
three essential elements viz. Wisdom, Ethical conduct, The Concentration.
Buddhism considers - Wisdom (Prajna), Ethical conduct (Sila) and The
Concentration (Samadhi) as the three essentials for life.
• The Eightfold Path consists of eight practices: right view, right resolve, right
speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right
Samadhi.
• The mind is everything. What you think you become.
• Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
• A disciplined mind brings happiness.
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• The sage Gautama (Gautama or Akshapada) is the founder of Nyaya school of
Indian philosophy.
• The word Nyaya means argumentation. Tarkashastra, Pramanashastra,
Vadavidya, Hetuvidya and Anvikshiki are other names used to denote Nyaya.
• The philosophy discusses sixteen major topics, the most important of which is
Gautama Muni
the pramana which is the source of valid knowledge.
• The Nyaya School is based on logic and even the other schools of Indian
philosophy use this system of logic entirely or in part, as the building blocks
for philosophical reasoning and debate.
• A further development of this school known as Navya-Nyaya or neo logic also
emerged in the 16th century in Mithila and Bengal.
Do You Know This?
• Guru Nanak also referred to as Baba Nanak was the founder of Sikhism and
the first of the ten Sikh Gurus.
• He set up a unique spiritual, social, and political platform based on equality,
fraternal love, goodness, and virtue.
• Nanak was an original spiritual thinker and expressed his thoughts in
extraordinary poetry that forms the basis of Sikh scripture.
1. Recognised Equality of all Human beings.
Guru Nanak
2. Preached Middle Path.
3. Emphasized on honest living.
4. Promoted Fraternal Love and Peace/ Universal Brotherhood.
5. Enlightened Materialism
6. Advocated Communitarian Ethics – Collective eating of food (Langers)
regardless of social distinctions.
• Recognised Equality of all Human beings: Based on the belief in one God,
Guru Nanak recognizes the equality of all human beings and is marked by the
rejection of idolatry, ritualism, caste and asceticism
• Preached Middle Path: He preached the middle path and considered that one
can make spiritual progress even when he is a householder.
• His preaching’s are based on equality of status of all human beings which he
emphasized through sangat and pangat which means community kitchen
and eating together by sitting on the floor.
• Emphasized on honest and virtuous living: He emphasized on honest living
and sharing one’s earning with others laid the foundation of an egalitarian
order.
• Guru Nanak asked his followers to transform the “Five Thieves” (lust, rage,
greed, attachment, and ego) to lead an ethical life.
Guru Ravidas Do You Know This?
• Guru Ravidas was one of the most spiritual Indian mystic poet-saint of
the Bhakti Movement during the 15th to 16th century CE.
• The great saint is well-known by many other names such as Raidas, Rohidas,
and Ruhidas.
• He was a renowned poet-saint, social reformer, and a spiritual figure.
1. Promoted Unity And Equality
2. Strived to Remove Social Distinctions
3. Advocated The Principle of Equanimity and Forgiveness
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• Ravidas ta1ught removal of social divisions of caste and gender, and promoted
unity in the pursuit of personal spiritual freedoms.
• He espoused sahaj bhao, or principle of equanimity and forgiveness,
to impress people not with his high philosophy but with an earthy,
persuasive gentleness.
• Ravidas taught the following principles:

1. The oneness, omnipresence and omnipotence of God.
2. The human soul is a particle of God.
3. The rejection of the notion that God cannot be met by lower castes.
4. To realize God, which is the goal of human life, man should concentrate on
God during all rituals of life.
5. The only way of meeting with God (moksha) is to free the mind from
duality
Do You Know This?
• Ishwar Chandra Vidhyasagar was an Indian educator and social reformer.
• Vidhyasagar was a well-known writer, intellectual and above all a staunch
supporter of humanity.
Ishwar Chandra • He was the most prominent campaigner for Hindu widow remarriage.
Vidhyasagar Contributions to Ethics:
1. Practiced the altruistic way of living.
2. An ardent advocate of women education.
3. Known for his Empathy and compassion
• He was an ardent advocate of women education. He rightly viewed
education as the primary way for women to achieve emancipation from all the
societal oppression they had to face at that time.
• He was an altruist he had a soft heart that melted into empathy for other’s
plight.
• Alongside the campaign for widow remarriage, he campaigned against
polygamy.
• The life without suffering is like a boat without a sailor, in which there is no
discretion of itself, it also moves in a light breeze.
• Education does not only mean learning, reading, writing, and arithmetic, it
should provide comprehensive knowledge.
Do You Know This?
• Jiddu Krishnamurti was a brilliant Indian philosopher, meditator and teacher,
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Speaker.
• He is regarded globally as one of the greatest thinkers and religious teachers of
all time.
• He and his brother were adopted in their youth by Dr Annie Besant, then
president of the Theosophical Society.
• Thus he rose under the tutelage/ Guardianship of Annie Besant who believed
him to be a ‘vehicle’ for an expected World Teacher.
• The core of Krishnamurti’s teaching is contained in the statement he made
in 1929 when he said “Truth is a pathless land”. His acute sense of intellectual
understanding of the human mind and its functioning provided the basis for
his marvelous lectures on philosophy, science and religion.
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• He did not expound any philosophy or religion, but rather talked of the
things that concern all of us in our everyday lives, of the problems of living in
modern society etc.
• He explained with great precision the subtle workings of the human mind,
and pointed to the need for bringing to our daily life a deeply meditative and
spiritual quality.
• Views on freedom: Freedom is not a reaction; freedom is not choice. It is man’s
pretence that because he has choice he is free. Freedom is pure observation
without direction, without fear of punishment and reward. Freedom is without
motive; freedom is not at the end of the evolution of man but lies in the first
step of his existence.
Do You Know This?
• Jyotirao Govindrao Phule was an Indian social activist, thinker, anti-caste
social reformer and writer from Maharashtra.
• He is mostly known for his efforts in educating women and lower caste
people.
• In 1873, he, along with his followers, formed the Satyashodhak Samaj (Society
of Truth-Seekers) to attain equal rights for people from lower castes.
Jotiba Phule • Pioneer of women education in India and Rationalist by nature.
1. Strived hard towards achieving Gender Equality
2. Women Emancipation and Empowerment.
• He believed that enlightenment of the women and lower caste people was
the only solution to combat the social evils.
• He was a believer in gender equality and he exemplified his beliefs by
involving his wife in all his social reform activities.
• Jotiba realised the pathetic conditions of widows and established an ashram
for young widows and eventually became advocate of the idea of Widow
Remarriage.
• “Lack of education lead to lack of wisdom, / Which leads to lack of morals, /
Which leads to lack of progress, / Which leads to lack of money, / Which leads
to the oppression of the lower classes, / See what state of the society one lack
of education can cause!”
Do You Know This?
• Kautilya or Vishnu Gupta was an Indian philosopher, economist, jurist and
royal advisor
Kautilya • He is best known as Chanakya. Kautilya was the most important minister in
the Court of Chandragupta Maurya during 317 – 293 B.C.
• He has been considered as one of the shrewdest ministers of the times and
has explained his views on State, War, Social Structures, Diplomacy, Ethics,
Politics and Statecraft very clearly in his book called Arthashasthra.
1. The Idea of Welfare State/ Basic Principles of Administration.
2. Concept of Dharma
3. The Concept of Rajrishi / Moral Duties of Rulers.
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4. Gave the dictum “Yatha Raja Tatha Praja”.

5. To Ensure Probity In Governance Advocated Corruption As A Bane To
Governance.
• Concept of Dharma: Kautilya had emphasized on the concept of ‘’dharma’’,
signifying one’s duty, and righteousness in personal and social conduct.
• The Idea of Welfare State: Stressed on ‘paternal despotism’ and considered
moral duty of ruler to put happiness and welfare of subjects before him (Social
Contract Theory).
• The concept of Rajrishi: The concept of Rajrishi envisaged by Kautilya is
very important for a good King. This concept is very close to the concept of
“Philosopher King” by Plato. In this concept, Kautilya has identified various
indicators of good governance.
• Yatha Raja Tatha Praja: Kautilya says “Yatha Raja Tatha Praja”. It means
the character of people in a kingdom will be same as that of king. Thus a king
possessing the qualities of leadership, accountability, intellect, energy, good
moral conduct, and physical fitness, capable of taking prompt decision will
inspire his people to ingrain these qualities.
• A man is great by deeds, not by birth.
• In the happiness of his subjects lies the king’s happiness, in their welfare lays
his welfare.
• A person should not be too honest. Straight trees are cut first and honest people
are screwed first.
• Education is the best friend. An educated person is respected everywhere.
Education beats the beauty and the youth
• Learn from the mistakes of others, you can’t live enough to make them all
yourself.
Do You Know This?
• Lal Bahadur Shastri was an Indian statesman who served as the second Prime
Minister of India; he was a scholar, thinker and a visionary person of his times.
• In 1961, he was appointed as Home Minister; He created the famous “Shastri
Formula” which consisted of the language agitations in Assam and Punjab.
• In 1964, he signed an agreement with the Sri Lankan Prime Minister in
Lal Bahadur concern with the status of Indian Tamils in Ceylon. This agreement is known
as Srimavo-Shastri Pact.
Shastri
• He also raised the slogan of “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” during the Indo-Pakistan
war in 1965 and paved the way for India’s food self-sufficiency.
1. Taught the values of Honesty, integrity.
2. An Exemplary personality for simple, modest living style.
3. An epitome of compassionate, forward-thinking leader.
4. Icon of Moral Responsibility.
• Simple living, high thinking and Modest Life style: When he married
in 1928, at the insistence of his in-laws to accept dowry, he took a charkha
(spinning wheel) and some Khadi cloth.
Even when he passed away, he reportedly had no property in his name and left behind
a few books and a dhoti-kurta. As a child, Shastri is known to have swum across the
river to reach school to save his impoverished family money to pay for a boat ride.
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• A compassionate, forward-thinking leader: He had many pioneering

initiatives to his credit, such as using water jets to disperse crowds instead of a
lathi-charge and making it possible for women to be appointed as conductors
in public transport facilities.
• Patriotic from a young age: As a patriotic young boy, he was inspired by
Mahatma Gandhi and his call to join the Non-Cooperation Movement at the
young age of 16. In his maiden Independence Day speech in 1964, Shastri told
the youth to strive for moral strength and character, “I appeal to our young
men to inculcate discipline in themselves discipline and work for the unity and
advancement of the nation.”
• Protested against the caste system: Since he didn’t believe in the caste
system he gave up his surname as a young schoolboy. The title “Shastri”
was bestowed on him upon graduating from Kashi Vidyapeeth, as a mark of
scholarly achievement.
• Icon of Moral Responsibility: Following a train accident at Ariyalur in Tamil
Nadu, in which more than 140 people were killed, he resigned as railway
minister taking moral responsibility for the incident. Lauding him for his
integrity, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said that he was accepting
his resignation because it would set an example in constitutional propriety,
although Shastri was in no way responsible for it.
• Visionary leader: His vision for self-sufficiency in foodgrains led to sowing
the seeds of the Green Revolution, and promotion of the White Revolution.
Do You Know This?
• Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial
nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to
lead a successful campaign for India’s independence from British rule.
• Gandhian ideas have in turn inspired movements for civil rights and
freedom across the world.
• Gandhiji is commonly, though not formally, considered as the Father of the
Nation in India and is commonly called as Bapu.
Mahatma Gandhi Contributions to Ethics:
1. Indivisibility of Means and Ends Concept.
2. Concept of Truth and Non Violence (Propagated Philosophy of Satyagraha as
Morally Righteous Way).
3. Seven Social Sins.
4. Doctrine of Trusteeship.
5. Advocated Value of Self Reliance.
6. Promoted Harmony and Brotherhood.
7. Advocated Concept of Swaraj And Gram Swaraj.
• Gandhiji’s Means and Ends Concept: Gandhi believed that Men should adopt
only good means to attain noble objectives. As per him: “No good can follow
from bad deeds, even if they are well intentioned.”
• Concept of Truth: Gandhi equated God with truth and designated his religion
as religion of truth. He used to say God is Truth, which he later changed to
“Truth is God”.
• Seven Social Sins of Mahatma Gandhi: Mahatma Gandhi’s journal - Young
India published a list of seven social sins. Gandhi wrote that they applied to
all individuals actions and had the ability to destroy the social fabric of the
community.
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• Gandhiji listed the seven social sins as below,

1. Wealth Without Work
2. Pleasure Without Conscience
3. Knowledge Without Character
4. Commerce (Business) Without Morality (Ethics)
5. Science Without Humanity
6. Religion Without Sacrifice
7. Politics Without Principle
• Doctrine of Trustee Ship: Gandhi Ji has introduced a concept of trusteeship,
in which the rich are regarded as trustees of wealth. Ultimately, as all property
belongs to God, the excess or superfluous wealth which the rich possess
belongs to society and should be used for supporting the poor. Wealthy people
have no moral right to what is more than their proportionate share in national
wealth. They simply become trustees for the disproportionate share of God’s
property they hold. They have to use it for helping the poor.
• Attributes of Gandhi: Simplicity, Modesty and Dignity, Determination,
Courage, Adherence to Truth And Non Violence, Compassion.
• Virtues advocated by Gandhiji: Truth, Non violence, No Stealing, Celibacy,
Courage, Rejection of untouchability.
• An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.
• Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in
harmony
• The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
• The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
• An ounce of practice is worth a thousand words
• Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.
• Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served.
• The world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s
greed.
• Be the change you want to see in the world.
• The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others
Do You Know This?
• Makkhali Gosala (c. 484 B.C.E.) (Also known as Maskarin Gośāla or Gosala
Mankhaliputta) was an ascetic teacher in ancient India, often identified as the
founder of the Ajivika movement.
• He was a contemporary of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, and
of Mahavira, the last and 24th Tirthankara of Jainism.
Ajivika Philosophy
• Ajivikas: Ajivikas are followers of the doctrine of immutability or pre-
determined belonging to the religious order or sect founded by Gosala
Makkhali Gosala Mankhaliputta.
• Chief source of information: The main source of information on Ajivikas is
Bhagwati Sutra.
• Doctrine of Destiny/ Niyati: The basic theme of Ajivika Philosophy is the
doctrine of Niyati or Destiny. The Ajivikas’ central belief was that absolutely
everything is predetermined by fate, or Niyati, and hence human action has no
consequence one way or the other.
• Liberation of Soul: According to them, each soul’s course was like a ball of
thread that is unraveling. It will go as it has to go, and similarly each cycle of life
and death will have to be experienced, as will joy and sorrow. Once the ball of
thread is fully unwound, its journey will end, and so the soul will be liberated
through nirvana.
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• Madhvacharya was an Indian philosopher, theologian and the chief proponent
of the Dvaita (dualism) school of Vedanta.
Madhvacharya • Madhva called his philosophy a Tattvavada meaning “Arguments from a realist
viewpoint”. He was a critic of Adi Shankara’s Advaita Vedanta and Ramanuja’s
Visishtadvaita Vedanta teachings.
• Composed many works including the famous Anuvyakhyana, a philosophical
supplement to his commentary on the Brahma Sutras.

Dvaita school of Vedanta / Dualism:
• Madhvacharya propounded this philosophy. It considers Brahman and Atman
as two different entities, and Bhakti as the route to eternal salvation.
• According to Dvaita, Jīvatma are many and Paramatma is one. Concerning the
soul Madhvacharya says that no two souls are alike. They each have different
characteristics, different states of happiness/sorrow.
• The soul becomes similar to God in some respects when it is liberated, yet even
in these respects it is much inferior to God.
Do You Know This?
• Manavendra Nath Roy (M. N. Roy) was prominent Indian philosopher of a
twentieth century. He was famous as the Father of Indian communism and
viewed as the first revolutionary leader of India.
• He started his career as a militant political activist and left India in 1915 in
search of arms for organizing an insurgence against British rule in India.
• M. N. Roy was definitely the most scholarly of modern Indian political
philosophers
M N Roy
1. He propounded radical humanism as a synthesis between liberalism and
communism.

Radical humanism or new humanism was contained in his Twenty two Thesis and
New Humanism: A Manifesto.
Basic Tenets of Radical Humanism/ New Humanism:

• Individuals are prior to society and freedom can be enjoyed only by individuals.
Amount of Freedom is a marker of social progress in a society.
• In interpretation of history, new humanism focuses on human will as a
significant factor in shaping history.
• Equality in new humanism goes beyond abolition of private property and
focuses on freedom.
• New humanism views individual powerless against the mighty state in
parliamentary democracy. Suggested power to remain vested with people on
basis of highly decentralized democracy. This can rightly be called basic of
73rd and 74th amendment.
• Philosophical revolution instill knowledge in society, hence philosophical
revolution should come before social revolution.
• Opposition to blind faith and superstitions of all kinds which is rightly
mentioned in fundamental duties advocating spirit of inquiry.
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• Mother Teresa, the renowned nun and missionary, was born Agnes Gonxha
Bojaxhiu in 1910. In 1928 she arrived to India and since then she devoted
herself to helping the destitute.
• Mother Teresa was fluent in five languages including English, Hindi, Bengali,
Albanian and Serbian.
• She was the recipient of more than 120 honors and awards during her lifetime
Mother Theresa
including the Ramon Magsaysay Peace Prize in 1962 and Nobel Peace Prize
in 1979.
• In 1948 she became an Indian citizen and founded the order of Missionaries of
Charity in Kolkata (Calcutta) in 1950, which became noted for its work among
the poor and the dying in that city.

• Worked for welfare of people: Mother Teresa worked for the welfare of the
poorest of the poor as well as the homeless, orphan children and people dying
from terminal illness such as HIV/AIDS, leprosy and tuberculosis.
• Practiced and Propagated some core values like compassion, kindness
and empathy etc: Mother Teresa gave up all material pleasures and she
focused on serving commoners. Her values of empathy, compassion, virtuosity
were above anything for her. Her actions were always driven by these values.

• “If you judge people, you have no time to love them.”
Nimbarka Do You Know This?
• Nimbarka propounded Dvaitadvaita (Dualistic monism). The sect of
Nimbarka flourished in east India in the 13th and 14th centuries.
• Nimbarka was born in south India. The exact time period of his birth is not
clear.
• He emphasized on Radha Krishna worship as the means to attain liberation.
He also stressed on Bhakti Yoga.

• Dvaitadvaita (Dualistic Monism): It states that the Brahman is the highest
reality, the controller of all. The soul and the world are different from God but
dependent on God.
Do You Know This?
Nagarjuna • Acharya Nagarjuna was a famous Indian philosopher, Mahayana thinker,
mathematician, scholar-saint and alchemist. He was the follower of Buddhism.
• He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.
• He was contemporary of Satavahana King Gautamiputra. He was born in a
Brahmin family in Nagarjunakonda in modern Andhra Pradesh.
• Nagarjuna is widely considered to be the founder of the Madhyamika (centrism,
middle-way) school of Buddhist philosophy and a defender of the Mahayana
movement.

• Madhyamika philosophy: Acharya Nagarjuna propounded the Madhyamika
philosophy, which shows the concept of Middle Path and can understand
everyone in the society
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• Shunyavad: He also discussed with the scholars and brought about the concept
of Shunyavad or Emptiness.
• Most important work is Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, which means Fundamental
Verses on the Middle Way. His theory is also known as Shunyavad “emptiness”.
Do You Know This?
• Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad popularly E M S, was an
Indian communist politician and theorist, who served as the first Chief Minister
E.M.S. of Kerala.
Namboodiripad
• As chief minister, EMS pioneered radical land and educational reforms in
Kerala, which helped it become the country’s leader in social indicators.
• In 1934, he was one of the founders of Congress Socialist Party, a socialist
wing within the Indian National Congress, and elected as its All India Joint
Secretary from 1934 to 1940.
• E.M.S. Namboodiripad was one of the foremost leaders of the Communist
movement in India and one of the founding leaders of the Communist
Party of India (Marxist).

• E.M.S. was a brilliant Marxist theoretician. He made outstanding contributions
to the application of Marxism-Leninism to Indian society and in working out
the strategy and tactics of the Indian revolution.
• His vast body of writings bears the mark of an original and creative mind which
mastered the dialectics of Marxist theory.
• His writings on land relations, Kerala, society and politics and his writings on
Marxist philosophy, literature and history -- mark him out to be one of the most
influential communist thinkers of the country and the world.
Do You Know This?
• Patanjali Maharshi was a sage in ancient India, thought to be the author of a
number of Sanskrit works.
• Patanjali Maharshi is known as the father of Yoga. Maha bhasya and Yoga
sutra is written by Patanjali Maharshi.
Patanjali Maharshi • It is believed that Maharishi Patanjali was the incarnation of Adishesha,
Vishnu’s serpent, who is the first ego expansion of Lord Vishnu. Therefore, He
is known to be the embodiment of Anantha, the holy serpent.

• Patanjali’s Yoga is one of the famous Darshana of Hindu Philosophy. Patanjali
synthesized and organized knowledge about yoga from much older tradition.
The yoga sutra is one of the foundational texts of classical Yoga Philosophy.
• Yoga literally means the union of two principal entities. Yogic techniques
control body, mind & sense organs, thus considered as a means of achieving
freedom or mukti.
• This freedom could be attained by practising self control (yama), observation
of rules (niyama), fixed postures (asana), breath control (pranayama),
choosing an object (pratyahara) and fixing the mind (dharna), concentrating
on the chosen object (dhyana) and complete dissolution of self, merging the
mind and the object (Samadhi).
• Yoga admits the existence of God as a teacher and guide.
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• Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyay was an Indian politician and thinker.
• Pt. Upadhyaya’s writings and speeches are based on his philosophy of
Pt. Deen Dayal ‘Integral Humanism’ and his vision for the rise of modern India.
Upadhyay Contributions to Ethics:
1. Advocated the Concept of Integral Humanism.
Dayal Upadhyaya’s Integral Humanism:
• Deriving from Shankara’s Advaitavada and similar to Buddha’s middle path,
Deen Dayal Upadhyaya’s Integral Humanism is a negation of the extreme
prospects of Capitalism as well as Marxism. Integral Humanism is different
from western ideologies.
• Integral Humanism is critical of individualism as well as Communism as
social systems. It defines society as a natural living organism with a definitive
national soul.
• Integral Humanism revolves around the basic themes of harmony, primacy
of cultural-national values and discipline. This doctrine of Pandit Upadhyay
is quite relevant even in the present political and economic situation of India
Do You Know This?
• Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya was an Indian scholar, educational reformer
and politician notable for his role in the Indian independence movement.
• Pt. Malaviya founded the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1916. He was
respectfully addressed as Mahamana.
Pt. Madan Mohan
• He was posthumously conferred with Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian
Malaviya award, on 24 December 2014
1. Popularized the term Satyameva Jayate.
2. He was an epitome of values such as patriotism, saintliness and religious
adherence.
3. Advocated for religious Harmony and promoted Hindu Muslim Unity.
• Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya popularized the term ‘Satyameva Jayate’.
However, the phrase originally belongs to the Mundaka Upanishad. The term
now is the national motto of India.
• Mahamana’s was a life replete with varied and high attainments, and it
epitomized the values of patriotism, virtues, saintliness and religious adherence
quintessential to the Indian ethical value system.
• Mahamana was renowned for his matchless eloquence and set an example for
others by honesty, impartiality and unshakeable resolve to uphold the truth.
• Madan Mohan Malaviya was against caste discrimination. He worked
immensely for Hindu-Muslim unity.
Rabindranath Do You Know This?
Tagore • Rabindranath Tagore was an Indian polymath poet, writer, composer,
philosopher and painter.
• Rabindranath Tagore was an Idealist, Naturalist, Humanist, Patriot,
Universalist, Vedantist and Internationalist.
• He became the first non-European as well as the first lyricist to win the Nobel
Prize in Literature in 1913 for his “profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful
verse” of Gitanjali book.
1. Concept of Spiritual Humanism.
2. Advocated Environmental Ethics.
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• Tagore’s Spiritual Humanism: The centre of Tagore’s philosophy was man of
god. Even his concept of God was influenced by the humanism inherent in his
outlook. The supreme reality thus according to Tagore, essentially human and
could be realised only through love of man. Love of God was thus translated
into love of human.
• Tagore firmly believed that truth could be realised only in human society.
Tagore said nature is the great teacher which is not hostile to man. Nature is
kind, generous and benevolent like mother.
• Tagore’s philosophy reveals that he was a Vedantist in true sense of terms.
He had faith in one Supreme Being that is the Brahma.
• Views on Education: Tagore became famous in the West only as a romantic
and a spiritualist. But his writings consistently emphasized the necessity of
critical reasoning and of human freedom
• Cultivate the spirit of invincible optimism; believe in life; live worthy of life.
• You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.
• The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but
makes our life in harmony with all existence.
Do You Know This?
• Ram Mohan Roy was a great religious, social, and educational reformer.
• Raja Ram Mohan Roy was one of the founders of the Brahmo Sabha, the
precursor of the Brahmo Samaj, a social-religious reform movement in the
Indian subcontinent.
• Raja Ram Mohan Roy is considered to be the “Father of the Indian
Renaissance” and the “First Modern man of India” and Maker of Modern
India.
Raja Ram Mohan
• He was given the title of Raja by Akbar II, the Mughal emperor.
Roy
• He was known for his efforts to abolish the practices of sati and child
marriage.
1. Championed the adoption of western education - Advocated that modern
education is the best pillar for Indian social Bads.
2. Strongly propagated the Universal Brotherhood and known for his
Cosmopolitanism (Considered himself as a Citizen of the world).
3. Conception of Freedom of Press – championed the cause of freedom of press
as an ardent supporter.
• Roy’s Conception of Religion: His conception of religion was based on
monotheism and humanism. According to him a true religion is the one that
inculcates knowledge, love of God and sympathy for the fellow beings. It must
soften the attitude and inculcate human feelings
• Raja Ram Mohan Roy was against the practice of Purdah, sati, restriction
on women, child marriage, and division of the Hindu society into various
castes.
• Raja Ram Mohan Roy believed education to be an instrument to bring
about social change or reform.
• Throughout his life, Ram Mohan Roy battled against ignorance, helplessness
and oppression.
• He is the first Indian who protested vehemently against the in Iquitos
treatment of women. Roy demanded property inheritance rights for women.
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• Rama Krishna Paramahansa is a famous 19th century Bengali Hindu mystic
and Philosopher.
• He is the Guru of Swami Vivekananda, the famous philosopher saint from India
Rama Krishna 1. Preached Religious Harmony.
Paramahansa 2. Emphasized on Truthfulness and Renunciation of Lust and Greed.
3. Strived Hard to Improve the Tone of Morality in Social Life.
• Ramakrishna’s main teachings included God realization as the supreme goal
of life, renunciation of Kama-Kanchana (Lust and Gold), Harmony of Religions
and Jiva is Shiva.
• Key concepts in Ramakrishna’s teachings included the oneness of existence
and the unity and truth of all religions.
• Harmony of religions: Sri Ramakrishna was an advocate of harmony of
religions. He did not regard all the religions as one. He recognised differences
among religions but showed that, in spite of these differences, all religions lead
to the same ultimate goal, and hence they are all valid and true.
• Sri Ramakrishna’s emphasis on truthfulness and renunciation of lust and
greed enhanced the moral life in modern times. He also cleansed religious life
of immoral practices, external pomp, miracle mongering and the like.
• The great contributions of Ramakrishna Paramahansa are: establishing
the possibility of directly experiencing God; preaching of harmony of religions;
harmonizing ancient religious practices with modern secular life; discounting
the abuses which have entered religions; and improving the tone of morality in
social life. His thoughts were free from obscurantism.
Do You Know This?
• Ramanuja or Ramanujacharya was an Indian philosopher, Hindu theologian,
social reformer, and one of the most important exponents of the Sri
Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism.
• His philosophical foundations for devotionalism were influential to the Bhakti
movement.
• Ramanuja is famous as the chief proponent of Visishtadvaita sub school of
Ramanujacharya Vedānta.
• Ramanuja himself wrote influential texts, such as bhasya on the Brahma
Sutras and the Bhagavat Gita, all in Sanskrit.

Visishtadvaita/ Qualified Monism/ Qualified Non Dualism:
• This philosophy was pioneered by Ramanujacharya during the 11th century.
Visishtadvaita literally means the Unique Advaita (Qualified Monism) that
is, Advaita with some amendments. While it accepts Brahman as the unified
whole, it states He is characterized by multiple forms.
• Visishtadvaita: It believes that all diversity is subsumed to a unified whole.
• Ramanuja’s philosophy is a fusion of the Vedas and the Bhagavata Purana.
He was enormously influenced by the Tamil Bhakti Saints called Alvars.
• Visishtadvaita is qualified monism, where God alone exists, but it admits
plurality of souls. It is midway between Advaita and Dvaita philosophies.
• The Visishtadvaita philosophy (Qualified Non-dualism) has competed with
the Dvaita (Theistic Dualism) philosophy of Madhvacharya, and Advaita (Non-
Dualism) philosophy of Adi Shankara, together the three most influential
Vedantic philosophies of the 2nd millennium.
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• Ram Manohar Lohia as an activist in the Indian independence movement and
a socialist political leader.
• Lohia was one of the founders of the Congress Socialist Party and editor of its
mouthpiece Congress Socialist.
Ram Manohar
• In 1936, he was selected by Jawaharlal Nehru as the secretary of the Foreign
Lohia
Department of the All India Congress Committee.
• Socialist Humanism: Lohia Advocated socialism in the form s new civilization
which in the words of Marx could be referred as Socialist Humanism.
• Four pillar concept: Lohia was very much popular for his Four Pillar concept,
he considered Village, Mandal, Province and Central government as the four
pillars of a state.
• Views on Equality: Lohia views equality in four aspects, viz., inward and
outward as well as spiritual and material, he pleads for an integrated approach.
He advocated, “Equality must therefore, be grasped in all its four meanings”.
• Conception of Justice: He said that Justice cannot be achieved without the
establishment of equality of man in that society. Lohia’s concept of justice
implies an urge to end all forms of colonialism and political rule of one nation
over another.
• Preached and Practiced Permanent Civil disobedience: Lohia was deeply
inspired by the Leon Trotsky’s “Theory of Permanent Revolution”. He
preached and Practiced the concept of “permanent Civil Disobedience” .
Ramana Maharshi Core Thoughts and Ethical Views:
• Ramana Maharshi was an Indian Hindu sage and he was born Venkataraman
Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.
• Ramana Maharshi was a charismatic person, and attracted many devotees,
some of whom saw him as an avatar and the embodiment of Shiva.
• Ramana Maharshi believed that death and evil were maya, or illusion, which
could be dissipated by the practice of vichara, by which the true self and the
unity of all things would be discovered.
• For liberation from rebirth it is sufficient, he believed, to practice only vichara
and bhakti (devotion) either to Shiva Arunachala or to Ramana Maharshi.
Do You Know This?
• Sant Kabir Das was a 15th-century Indian mystic poet and saint, whose
writings influenced Hinduism’s Bhakti movement.
• He was a disciple of the Hindu bhakti leader Ramananda. He was against the
Sant Kabir Das caste system.
• Kabir is known for being critical of both Hinduism and Islam. Kabir’s legacy
survives and continues through the Kabir Panth.
1. Advocated to Follow a Path of Righteousness.
2. Emphasized on Love and Fraternity.
3. Laid Foundations For Secular Ethics.
4. Popularized Dissent As A Political And Ethical Value
• Kabir’s philosophical tenets were extremely simple. He preached Bhakti or
‘Devotion’ through the medium of his ‘Dohas’.
• Kabir suggested that Truth, which he often called Raam, is with the person
who is on the path of righteousness.
• He emphasized that love was the only medium which could bind the
entire human kind in an unbreakable bond of fraternity
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• Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was an Indian academic, professor, philosopher,
and politician who served as the first Vice President of India (1952–1962) and
the second President of India.
• Radhakrishnan was awarded several high awards during his life, including a
knighthood in 1931, the Bharat Ratna in 1954, and honorary membership of
the British Royal Order of Merit in 1963.
• Radhakrishnan believed that “teachers should be the best minds in the
country”. Since 1962, his birthday has been celebrated in India as Teachers’
Sarvepalli Radha Day on 5 September every year.
Krishnan • His other works include Indian Philosophy, (1923-27), The Philosophy of
the Upanishads (1924), An Idealist View of Life (1932), Eastern Religions and
Western Thought (1939), and East and West: Some Reflections (1955).
• His ethical philosophy is the philosophy of the growth and progress of the
human spiritual personality. His book, ‘The Philosophy of Rabindranath
Tagore’ attracted global attention to Indian philosophy.
• Radha Krishna’s Meta Physical Idealism: His philosophy was grounded
in Advaita Vedanta, reinterpreting this tradition for a contemporary
understanding.
• He defended Hinduism against what he called “uninformed Western criticism”,
contributing to the formation of contemporary Hindu identity.
• Concept of Intuition: Radhakrishnan’s appeal to intuition underlies his vision
for an ethical Hinduism, He carefully mentions that intuition should not be
confused with anti-intellectualism. Intuition which ignores the intellect is
useless. The two are deeply interlinked.
• Radhakrishnan believed that human beings are by nature value seekers. They
seek truth, beauty and goodness. For him, ethical principles are unconditional
commands, guiding man towards a self realization.
• Moral values are a necessity for the development of personality. He saw non-
violence, renunciation and suffering as the cardinal principles of human life.
Do You Know This?
• Swami Dayanand Saraswati was an Indian philosopher, social leader and
founder of the Arya Samaj, a reform movement of the Vedic dharma.
• He was the first to give the call for “Swaraj” as “India for Indians” in 1876, a
call later taken up by Lokmanya Tilak.
• He was given the epithet of Maharishi and is considered as one of the Makers
of Modern India.
• Dayanand Saraswati was an iconoclast who opposed the traditional rituals
of Hinduism– idol worship, conventional priesthood and the caste barriers.
Swami Dayanand 1. Advocated the concept ts of Dharma.
Saraswati 2. Strived for gender equality and upliftment of women.
• He strongly advocated the concepts of Dharma which he believed to be free
from any partiality and as an embodiment of truthfulness.
• He launched the Shuddhi movement; he was not against any religion but
against religious imperialism and coercive alterations of religious orientations.
• He vehemently opposed child-marriages, polygamy, “Purdah” and the
practice of “Sati” etc.
• Citing the teachings of the Vedas, he proved that women should have equal
rights with men. Inter-caste marriages and inter-dining were practiced by the
members of the Arya Samaj.
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• He advocated the concept of Swarajya, meaning a country free of foreign

influence, resplendent in the glory of fair and just participants.
• Dayananda Saraswati’s religious views crystallized after he came under the
influence of Swami Paramananda. Paramananda was a great advocate of Vedas
as original springs of Hindu religious thought. It is from him that Dayanand
Saraswati derived his battle cry “Back to the Vedas”.
Do You Know This?
• Thiruvalluvar commonly known as Valluvar was a celebrated Tamil poet
and philosopher.
• He is best known as the author of Thirukkuṛaḷ a collection of couplets on
Thiruvalluva ethics, political and economical matters, and love.
• He has long been venerated as a great sage, and his literary works a classic of
Tamil culture.
1. Advocated to follow a Righteous life.
2. Preached to Inculcate the Positive Attributes.
3. Taught Universal Ethics.
4. Proposed a Code of Good Life.
5. Highlighted Significance of Moral Values and Ethical Codes.
• Views on Dharma: According to Thiruvalluvar, Dharma is a simple and
straightforward concept: “Righteousness is all about removing the four
flaws – envy, desire, anger and harsh words.”
• Preached to Inculcate the Positive Attributes: Love, compassion, use of
pleasant words, having good conduct, forbearance and honesty are the positive
qualities that one should cultivate and maintain in order to erase blemishes
from one’s mind
• Love is the quintessence of life; without it, a man is but a frame of bones covered
with skin.
• It is compassion, the most gracious of virtues, which moves the world.
• Conquer with forbearance, the excesses of insolence.
• Falsehood takes the place of truth when it results in the unblemished common
good.
Do You Know This
• Vardhamana Mahavira was the twenty-fourth (24th) and last Jain
Vardhamana Tirthankara according to the Jain philosophy.
Mahavira • Mahavira was born to King Siddhartha of Kundagrama and Queen Trishala,
a Licchavis princess in the year 540 BC. Mahavira belonged to the Ikshvaku
dynasty.
• Lord Mahavira was named Vardhamana, which means “one who grows”.
• Mahavira practiced intense meditation and severe austerities for 12
years, after which he is believed to have attained Kevala Jnana (omniscience).
• He was perhaps a contemporary of Gautama Buddha.
1. Triratnas/ Three Jewels/ Three Metaphysical Principles
2. Pancha-Mahavratas/Five Great Vows/ Five Ethical Principles.
3. Advocated Spiritual freedom.
4. Advocated Non Violence, Self Discipline And Universal Love.
5. Described Truthfulness As A Highest Personal Virtue.
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• Three Metaphysical and Five Ethical Principles are the foundation of
Mahavira philosophy. Lord Mahavira devoted his entire life in preaching
spiritual freedom.
• Pancha-Mahavratas/Five Great Vows: Jaina morality consists of the essential
observance of Pancha-Mahavratas which are the ingredients of right conduct.
They are:
1. Ahimsa (Non-violence)
2. Satya (Truth)
3. Asateya (Non-stealing)
4. Brahmacharya (Chastity)
5. Aparigraha (Non-possession)
• The Threefold path/ Triratnas/ Three Jewels: Jainism provides threefold
path known as Triratna (three jewels) for the attainment of Moksha (salvation)
1. Right faith (Samyak Darsana),
2. Right knowledge (Samyak Jnana),
3. Right conduct (Samyak Charitra).
• Live and allow others to live; hurt no one; life is dear to all living beings.
• The most important principle of environment is that you are not the only
element.
Vallabhacharya Do You Know This?
• Vallabhacharya, also known as Vallabha, was an Indian philosopher who
founded the Pushti sect of Vaishnavism. It was a Krishna-centric cult in the
Braj region of India.
• He propounded Shuddha Advaita (Pure non-dualism).
• He wrote commentaries on Vedanta Sutra and the Bhagavat Gita.
• He said that Krishna was Brahman and that the soul and God are one and the
same.
• Suddhadvaita (Pure non-dualism): It states that both God and the individual
self are the same, and not different.
Do You Know This?
• Sir Mokshagundam Vishveshwariah, more commonly known as Sir M
M Vishveshwariah Visvesvaraya, was an Indian civil engineer, statesman, scholar and he was the
Diwan of Mysore during the 1912 to 1918.
• He was an engineering pioneer of India whose genius reflected in harnessing
of water resources and building and consolidation of dams across the country.
• He was the chief engineer responsible for the construction of the Krishna
Raja Sagara Dam in Mysore.
• He was knighted as a Knight Commander of the British Indian Empire by
King George V for his contributions to the public good in 1915.
• He was conferred India’s highest honour, the Bharat Ratna in 1955.
• He was an embodiment of discipline and hard work. He was known for his
impeccable Punctuality and never late even bya single minute.
• Vishveshwariah was dedicated to the work with utmost commitment and a
man of spotless honesty.
• He wanted people to give up blind belief and wanted the fullest use of science
and technology.
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• Swami Vivekananda, born Narendranath Datta, was an Indian Hindu
monk, a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna.
• He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta
and Yoga to the Western world.
• He represented India and addressed the Parliament of the World’s Religions in
Chicago in 1893.
• Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission.
1. Ethics of Renunciation and Concept of Duty
2. Promoted Religious Tolerance and Harmony.
Vivekananda 3. Laid foundation for spiritual Humanism – The Concept of Potential Divinity of
the Soul.
4. Propounded Right Education and Character Building.
5. Advocated Compassion towards Weaker Sections and Downtrodden.
6. Advocated Spirit of Equality, Liberty and Fraternity.
7. Advocated Self Belief and Faith.
8. Physical as Well as Moral Strength.
9. Education as a Manifestation of Inner Perfection.
10. Love for Humanity and Principle of Universal Tolerance.
11. Service to humanity- “Service to mankind is service to god”
• Swami Vivekananda gave a new theory of ethics and new principle of
morality based on the intrinsic purity and oneness of the Atman.
• Ethics according to Vivekananda was nothing but a code of conduct that
helps a man to be a good citizen.
• He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India, and contributed to the
concept of Indian nationalism as a tool to fight against the British Empire in
colonial India.
• Though growth of Nationalism is attributed to the Western influence but
Swami Vivekananda’s nationalism is deeply rooted in Indian spirituality and
morality. His nationalism is based on Humanism and Universalism, the
two cardinal features of Indian spiritual culture.
• Vivekananda propagated that the essence of Hinduism was best expressed in
Adi Shankara’s Advaita Vedanta philosophy.
• Arise, awake and stop not til the goal is reached.
• Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man.
• Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success, and
above all: love.
• Religion is the manifestation of the Divinity already in man.
• “Strength is Life, Weakness is Death. Expansion is Life, Contraction is Death.
Love is Life, Hatred is Death.”
• “Whatever you think that you will be, if you think yourself weak, weak you will
be; if you think yourself strong, you will be”.
• Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life — think of it, dream of it, live on
that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that
idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.
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• Maharshi Yajnavalkya was an eccentric thinker and skilled orator in debates
and he is considered as one of the earliest philosophers in recorded history.
• Yajnavalkya is estimated to have lived in around the 8th century BCE or 7th
Yajnavalkya century BCE.
• Yajnavalkya is especially known for his unsurpassed spiritual wisdom and
power. His name stands distinguished both in the Srutis and in the Smṛtis.
• Yajnavalkya is associated with several major ancient texts in Sanskrit, namely
the Shukla Yajurveda, the Shatapatha Brahmana, the Brihadaranyka
Upanishad, the Dharmashastras named Yajnavalkya Smṛti.
• The Brihadaranyka Upanishad is a treatise on Ātman (Soul, Self), includes
passages on metaphysics, ethics.
• The clear and explicit mention of the Doctrine of transmigration of Soul
is to be found in the Upanishads. The earliest mention of it is found in the
Brihadaranyka Upanishad.
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1 EDEN IAS

Compendium of Core Thoughts

9. Confucius ------------------------------------9 37. Max Weber ----------------------------------21

10. Charles Stevenson -----------------------9 38. Mc Parson -----------------------------------22

18. Francis Bacon ---------------------------13 45. Rene Descartes ----------------------------24

19. G.E. Moore -------------------------------13 46. R. M. Hare ------------------------------------25

27. Jean-Jacques Rousseau ---------------17 53. Voltaire --------------------------------------28

28. Denotological Ethics ------------------17 54. W.D. Ross ------------------------------------28

Core Thoughts and Ethical Views:

• Concept of Summum Bonum/ Happiness: According to him Happiness

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Famous Quotes / Golden Lines:

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Aristippus of Cyrene of the Cyrenaica school of philosophy.

Core Thoughts and Ethical Views:

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Cicero Do You Know This?

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Core Thoughts and Ethical Views

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Jean Piaget Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development:

Core Thoughts and Ethical Views:

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Karl Marx Do You Know This?

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