Indian Ethics and its Origin

Indian Ethics and its Origin:

The origin of Indian Ethics can be traced back to the Vedas and Upanishads. The focus in these texts is on understanding moral rules, right and wrong, and following these codes of conduct so that harmony is created in life, with oneself and with others around us. Indian ethics revolves around principles like Ahimsa (non-violence), Satya (truthfulness), Asteya (non-stealing), etc. These principles are believed to be inherent qualities of an individual’s character; therefore, it is a way of life rather than just a code or set of rules one must follow....

Western Ethics & its Origin:

Western ethics’ origin can be traced back to Plato and Aristotle’s period and went through a long process before reaching its present form, which is called Modern ethical theories. Western Ethics originates when Aristotle first categorized human beings into three groups based on their moral aptitude- intuitive, intellectual, and moral- and argued that each group must follow a different path toward virtue. These philosophers believed that everyone was born with certain natural virtues and tried to live up to these personal ideals in their day-to-day lives. Other Greek thinkers and Hebrews had their versions of good, right and just....

Ethics From an Indian Perspective:

From the Indian perspective, it is said that there are six Yamas and Niyamas, which can be thought of as moral guidelines for life. These are based on Hindu and Buddhist scriptures from India’s ancient past. The goal of these rules is to create an ethical society in which people live peacefully together without sacrificing their individuality or violating each other’s rights as human beings. In Indian tradition, there is no separate science for studying ethics. Still, certain Vedic hymns such as Shvetashvatara Upanishad (verse 6) state ‘swa-dharmam tu sakshat bhagwat’, i.e., your duty is your virtue and ‘yatha Prajapati yatha pravritti tathaiva cha’, i.e., whatever activity leads to the welfare of all living beings including animals should be followed by everyone....

Ethics from a Western Perspective:

Ethics refers to human conduct and behaviour as it relates to right or wrong and good or bad. In the western perspective, ethics, moral philosophy and principles of a person or an organization concerning their behaviour towards others, whether implied or explicitly stated by them. The term ‘ethics’ is derived from the Greek word ethos, which means character or habit. A set of ethical standards are what people call morality or ethical code of conduct which helps us decide between right and wrong. As per Aristotle’s definition, Ethics is concerned with what makes a man good. Thus, one can say that according to westerners, morality is that set of standards by which we judge an individual’s character for their behaviour....

Comparing Eastern Philosophy to Western Philosophy:

Similarities Between Eastern Philosophy and Western Philosophy:...

Conclusion:

The Western perspective has been more popularized than India’s in the digital age due to its prevalence on social media and is practiced by various influential people. Though both approaches have utilities and if a person chooses any one of them and follows it religiously, then his/her life is going to be improved and strengthened....