History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization, Vol. XII. Levels of Reality (CONSSAVY), Part II. A Historical - Developmental Study of Classical Indian Philosophy of Morals
Contents: Preface. Editors. Contributors. General introduction. 1. On historiography of classical Indian ethics. 2. Survey of modern writings on classical Indian ethics: methodological Hints for appraising as ethics. 3. Ethics in the Veda. 4. Ethics in the Ramayana. 5. Ethics in the Mahabharata. 6. Ethics in the Gita: an analytical study. 7. Ethics in basic Dharmastastras. 8. Ethics in Kautilya’s works. 9. Ethics in classical Indian materialistic philosophy. 10. Ethics in Jaina philosophical literature: the doctrine of Ahimsa. Part I. The Jaina theory of right conduct. Part II. Some issues concerning Jaina ethics in general and Ahimsa in particular. 11. Ethics in Buddhist philosophical literature. 12. The ethics of the Nyaya-Vaisesika school. 13. Ethics of the Sankhya - Yoga school. 14. Mimamsa ethics. 15. Ethics in the Upanisadic and Advaitic philosophy. 16. Problem posed by ethics to Advaitism: the Advaitin’s attempt to solve it examined. 17. Ethics in the Visistadvaita and Dvaita philosophy. 18. Ethics and devotion to God (Bhakti): some problematic concepts. 19. Ethics in Bhakti philosophical literature. 20. Ethics in Bhakti literature (with special reference to some Maharashtrian Saints’ views). 21. Ethics and fine arts in classical India. 22. Ethics in the formulation and application of law in classical India (with special reference to the Smritis up to the seventh century A.D.). 23. Ethics in classical Indian medical theory and practice. 24. Ethics in Indian attitude towards nature: organic and inorganic. 25. Interaction between classical Indian ethics and Christian ethics. 26. Links between classical Indian and tribal ethics. 27. Links between classical Indian and Islamic ethics. Index.
“The volumes of the Project of History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization aim at discovering the main aspects of India’s heritage and present them in an interrelated way. These volumes, in spite of their unitary look, recognize the difference between the areas of material civilization and those of ideational culture. The project is not being executed by a single group of thinkers and writers who are methodologically uniform or ideologically identical in their commitments. In fact, contributions are made by different scholars with different ideological persuasions and methodological approaches. The project is marked by what may be called \'Methodological Pluralism\'. In spite of its primarily historical character, this project, both in its conceptualization and execution, has been shaped by many scholars drawn from different disciplines. It is for the first time that an endeavour of such unique and comprehensive character has been undertaken to study critically a major world civilization like India.
The book traces the historical development of classical Indian moral philosophy from the Vedas onwards, covering the basic moral concerns of almost all classical thinkers and the schools they form. It also includes some such topics, like legal ethics, medical ethics, etc., which generally are not included in books on Indian ethics. The method of its presentation of ethical concepts, their interrelations, and the theories they constitute, is non-technical, objective and fair to the contexts in which they were enunciated and developed. It is a cooperative work to which the best minds of India have contributed. Although it has been meticulously edited, its contributors have enjoyed full freedom to present their accounts as their own best judgement has led them to, and some of them have been quite critical of the classical theory or theories they have talked about. Its language being simple, it can be read with no difficulty by a reader, even if he has no schooling in philosophy, Indian philosophy or Indian history.” (jacket)
