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According to the Jinist, four things are the good i.e. intrinsically good-ahiṁsā of all living beings, virtuous disposition and action, knowledge and pleasure. There may be other things which are the good, but they can, on analysis, be shown to be the combination of two or more of the above goods. For example, Vātsalya (mutual love), which is the good, is a combination of virtuous disposition with knowledge and pleasure. Aesthetic enjoyment which is again the good is a combination of pleasure with the knowledge of the art object. Thus Jaina ethics upholds the doctrine of value pluralism; and this theory of the good or intrinsic goodness may be styled ahimsā-utilitarianism.
REFERENCES
1. Ayāro: 4.1.1.
Sarvārthasiddhi VII. 13.
Samaņasuttam: 148. 4. Ibid., 149. 5. Ibid., 147.
Āyāro, 2.3.64. 7. Ibid., 1.6.122. 8. Samaņasuttam, 150. 9. Ibid., 151. 10. Āyāro, 5.5.101. 11. Puruşārthasiddhyupāya, 44. 12. Samaņasuttam, 156. 13. Moore, Principia Ethica, P. 22. 14. Ibid. 15. Svayambhustotra, 119. 16. Ayāro, 4.1.1. 17. Puruşārthasiddhyupāya, 50
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Spiritual Awakening (Samyagdarśana) and Other Essays
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