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JAN STUDIES
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स्वाध्याय परम तप
B.5.14.1
Introduction
The ethical system contains
• Beliefs about the nature of man,
Beliefs about ideals, about what is good or desirable or worthy of pursuit for its own sake,
⚫ Rules laying down what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, and
Motives that incline us to choose the right or wrong course.
Bio-Ethics and Medical Science in Jaina Texts
Dr. Meenal Katarnikar
The issues arising about what is good, desirable or worthy of pursuit, the standard of goodness and so, arising out of the development of biomedical sciences are the main subject of bio-ethics. And very specifically, the response of Jainism to these bio-ethical issues is the subject matter of present lecture.
It is a matter of debate whether ethics, either pure or applied, should be religion-free or is it always based on religious or metaphysical doctrines. The polemics in this context is relevant even today, because the present global society is divided in at least two groups, viz. religious and a-religious. And whenever any ethical issue related to any sphere of life arises, the religious authorities or advocates of religious ethics attempt to find out the solutions on the basis of the teachings of religion. For example, due to the advancements in medical sciences, society is availed of the treatments life artificial womb, test-tube-baby or even gene therapy. No doubt theses issues give rise to ethical questions. However, whether the response to these questions should be from a religious group or from a neutral group essentially depends on the mind-set of people living in society. Frequently it is found that religious group responds to these issues on the basis of certain ideas of merit and sin, good and bad as determined by the religious doctrines. And the response of Jainism to these issues is such a type of response. Keeping at background the Jaina ideals of non-violence, non-collectivism and ascetic life, Jainism responds to the bio-ethical issues.
In this lecture, the case study of following bio-ethical issues will be done, not all the issues will be discussed. The reason for being selective is that the focus of the lecture is on Jaina
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