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fact, he is concerned with the criterion of the rightness of actions. He wishes to enquire the ground on which the rightness of actions depends. In Jaina terminology it may be asked, "How do we regard an action as Samyak? Or by what standard is an action judged to be Samyak?" It will not be out of place to point out here that the terms Samyak action in Jaina Ethics is not equivalent to the term right action in modern ethics,' but it implies that the action has a good motive in addition. It is, therefore, called good action. The other term in Jaina Ethics for good action is Subha action. But for our purpose we shall treat Samyak-action or Subha action right action without any inconsistency. In the present paper I propose to discuss the theories of the criterion or standard by which we can determine whether an action is right or wrong Further, I shall endeavour to point out the stand of the Jaina Ethich regarding the issue under consideration.
In order to judge the rightness or wrongness of an action or rule, if the goodness or badness of its consequences is taken into consideration, we have the theory known as the teleological theory of right or wrong. For instance, gambling is wrong because it leads to many bad consequences and helping other in distress is right, because it leads to good consequences. In other words, the teleologist contends that an action or rule is right, if it is conducive to the greatest balance of good over evil, for the agent or for the society. The former position is taken by an ethical egoist, whereas the latter one, by the utilitarian. Since ethical egoism cannot be consistently maintained as a moral theory, we set it aside without going into the argument for its rejection. What concerns us now is to discuss utilitarianism as a teleological theory of the rightness or wrongness of an action or rule.
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Spiritual Awakening (Samyagdarśana) and Other Essays
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