[INDOLOGY] Gita moral philosophy

[Howard Resnick]

Greetings Nagaraj, thanks for your inquiry.

The usual attempt to deploy the Euthyphro dilemma — are some acts good because the gods command them, or do the gods command them because they are good — seems to go like this:

a. If acts are good because gods command them, then the acts are not intrinsically good, and the gods may change their mind. Thus on this account there is no objective moral good, and the attempt to establish objective morality by divine command fails.

b. If the gods enjoin certain acts because they are intrinsically good, then we don’t need divine authority to establish objective moral good.

To establish the Gita’s implicit, deducible view on this issue, I am examing every statement in the Gita which employs an imperative verb — such as kuru, uttiṣṭha, viddhi etc, or negative commands such as mā gamaḥ etc. I am also examining what MW calls “a softened form of the imperative,” ie the infinitive with the auxiliary verb arh, as in ’na tvaṃ śocitum arhasi.’

My impression is that the Gītā teaches an intrinsic moral good, rather than a morally neutral act or state that is made good merely by divine command. Thus the Gītā claims (14.6) that ’sattva-guṇa’ is [intrinsically] prakāśakam, enlightening, and anāmayam, free of [gross] contamination. Similarly, goodness itself brings wisdom, sattvāt sañjāyate jñānaṃ 14.17 etc, happiness (14.6 etc), and future elevation, ūrdhvaṃ gacchanti sattva-sthāḥ 14.8.

I think it can be shown, philosophically, that the intrinsic goodness of certain acts and states does not render a Deity superfluous. Just one example: even intrinsic good can have a source (Bg 10.8 etc). 

Sorry for the long post,
Howard




> On Jul 9, 2023, at 6:04 AM, Nagaraj Paturi <nagarajpaturi at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear Howard ji,
> 
> Can you please help me to locate the claim that 
> 
> ' the Euthyphro dilemma necessarily problematizes divine command theories of moral realism'.
> 
> and also 
> 
> help me understand how your exploration of this claim is helped by 
> 
> the analysis of Gita's moral philosophy , including from from the standpoint of Western moral philosophy. ? 
> 
> 
> On Sun, Jul 9, 2023 at 3:26 PM Howard Resnick <hr at ivs.edu <mailto:hr at ivs.edu>> wrote:
>> Dear Scholars,
>> 
>> I would appreciate references to articles or books, available digitally, that analyze the Gita’s moral philosophy, especially but not exclusively from the standpoint of Western moral philosophy. More specifically, I wish to explore what for me is the dubious claim that the Euthyphro dilemma necessarily problematizes divine command theories of moral realism. 
>> 
>> Sorry if this is a rather abstruse request.
>> 
>> Best wishes,
>> Howard
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
> 
> -- 
> Nagaraj Paturi
>  
> Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.
> 
> 
> Senior Director, IndicA
> BoS, MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra
> BoS Kavikulaguru Kalidasa Sanskrit University, Ramtek, Maharashtra
> BoS Veda Vijnana Gurukula, Bengaluru.
> Member, Advisory Council, Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthanam, Bengaluru
> BoS Rashtram School of Public Leadership
> Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Studies in Public Leadership
> Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies, 
> FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education, 
> Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.
>  
>  
>  

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