Introduction

While classical Indian philosophy is incredibly rich in rigorous discussions of topics in epistemology, logic and metaphysics, comparable discussions in the areas of ethics, politics and aesthetics were not as extensive as might have been expected. Certainly, ethics was not a distinct field within Indian philosophy in the manner of pramāṇavāda (the part of Indian philosophy that corresponds roughly to epistemology and logic). Instead, Indian ethical discussions are to be found scattered acoss many works and genres. However, although classical Indian ethics is thus underdeveloped relative to other branches of Indian philosophy, the Indian philosophers did have a good deal to say about the theory of value insofar as they vigorously discussed topics like the ends of life and the relation of virtuous action to those ends. Moreover, there are major commonalities between both the orthodox Hindu and heterodox Buddhist and Jaina philosophers – though there are also some significant differences.

In this chapter we begin by outlining the structure of classical Hindu ethics and its theories of the good and the right. We then consider some arguments for the primacy of the value of liberation, a claim common to both orthodox and heterodox Indian value theorists, before focusing on some of the distinctive features of Buddhist and Jaina ethics. It seems appropriate to begin our introduction to Indian philosophy here because these crucial normative presuppositions underpin so many of the more fully articulated and technical debates in classical Indian epistemology and metaphysics.

The structure of value: the puruṣārthas

The Hindu ethical tradition is complex and by no means monolithic, but arguably the most developed parts of classical Hindu ethics are its theory of the good and its theory of the right. The former is articulated in terms of the puruṣārthas or ends of human life.

A traditional Hindu classification recognizes four classes of values: the puruṣārthas or ends of human life. The most common traditional ordering of these is: dharma, artha, kāma and mokṣa. The first three are sometimes grouped together as the trivarga (‘group of three’); the addition of mokṣa constructs the caturvarga (‘group of four’). Artha is wealth and political power; kāma is sensual pleasure, particularly as associated with sexual and aesthetic experience; dharma is the system of obligations and prohibitions enshrined in the legal and religious texts.