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CHAPTER VIII
The Jaina and the Western Types of Ethical Doctrines
SUMMARY OF THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER: In the previous chapter we have, in the first place, dwelt upon the ethical views as propounded by the Rg-veda and the Brāhmaṇas, and evaluated the Upanişadic contents in the light of the Vedic hymns. Secondly, we have dealt with the nature of the moral ideal as advocated by the Gītā and the Upanişads. Thirdly, we have pointed out the nature of the obstacle preventing a man from realising the ideal, and have dealt with the distinctions between the converted and perverted souls, and the importance of Guru for imparting spiritual wisdom. Fourthly, after dealing with the incentives to spiritual life we have explained the importance of faith, knowledge, and conduct for surmounting the obstacles to the moral and the spiritual betterment. Fifthly, the negative side of conduct consisting in sweeping away sins and passions, in subduing the senses, in restraining the mind; and the positive aspect comprising the cultivation of virtues along with devotion and meditation, have been dealt with. Sixthly, the characteristics of the ideal sage have been expounded. Seventhly, the nature of the ethical ideal according to the important schools of Indian philosophy, the nature of the causes responsible for the ills and maladies of the worldly existence, and the process of the attainment of the mystical end have been explained. And lastly, we have dwelt upon the eightfold path of Yoga and the four noble truths of Buddha.
COMMENCEMENT OF THE ETHICAL SPECULATION IN THE WEST: Before the appearance of the Sophists, the Greek philosophers engaged themselves in cosmological enquiries. The pre-sophistic philosophy merely encountered ontological problems. The Sophists who flourished in the fifth century B.C. diverted their attention towards human conduct. Thereby they shifted the interest from the nature to man. This made the Sophistic teaching exclusively humanistic. But this sort of turn was not abrupt. “The naive and fragmentary utterances of sage precepts for conduct, in which nascent moral reflection everywhere first manifests itself, supply a noteworthy element of Greek literature in the "gnomic” poetry of the 7th and 6th centuries before Christ; their importance in the development of Greek civilisation is strikingly characterised by the traditional enumeration of the "seven sages" of the 6th century; and their influence on
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