GANDHI: Never harm another – ahimsa. Although a Hindu, he was much influenced by his Jain relatives and friends. Of particular appeal to him was the Jain principle of ahimsa - the principle of non-harm or non-violence to all living things. Taking great care lest they should harm another creature physically, the principle extends to the intellectual realm as well. The doctrine of perspectivalism is a derivative notion here. It is the belief that no individual has a complete grasp of the truth, and so, while we must always act upon our own conception of the truth, we must nonetheless hold ourselves open to the possibility that others may understand some things better than we do. Consequently, we ought never act with violence or coercion, because we might be trammeling a perspective that is actually more valid than our own.
Posted on: Wed, 23 Oct 2013 23:48:13 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015