5. Classical Indian Ethical Thought ( A Philosophical Study of Hindu, Jaina and Bauddha Morals)

The book is a philosophical treatise on the Hindu, Bauddha and Jaina morals meant for the University students of Indian Ethics as well as for the general readers interested in the subject. Books on the subject are generally written in a historical perspective. On the contrary, the present work is philosophical and critical which takes full cognisance of the recent developments in Western ethical thought and its likely impact on the understanding of the traditional Indian ethics. It takes equal note of the ethical ideas contained in Hindu, Jaina and Bauddha traditions while dealing with the subject in its specific framework of presentation. The distinctive developments in Western ethics have given rise to certain well knit conceptual moulds which, if properly applied to any system of ethics can help us to understand the subject better. That is what the author has tried to do in this book. In course of doing this, certain reconstructions were also made because material suited to these conceptual methods are not always readily or directly available in the Indian thought. But these reconstructions have been kept jejune to the natural spirit of the Indian thought.