[INDOLOGY] Gita moral philosophy

Mon Jul 10 12:24:15 UTC 2023

You're very welcome, Howard.

Two books on Indian moral philosophy that may be pertinent to thinking about Euthyphro's dilemma, even if they do not directly reference it, are
B. K. Matilal, Moral Dilemmas in the Mahābharata
and the essayist Gurcharan Das's The Difficulty of Being Good

best,
Matthew

Matthew T. Kapstein
Professor emeritus
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, PSL Research University, Paris

Associate
The University of Chicago Divinity School

https://ephe.academia.edu/MatthewKapstein

Sent with [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/) secure email.

------- Original Message -------
On Monday, July 10th, 2023 at 12:16 PM, Howard Resnick <hr at ivs.edu> wrote:

> Thank you Matthew. Much appreciated.
>
> Best wishes,
> Howard
>
>> On Jul 10, 2023, at 1:51 AM, Matthew Kapstein <mattkapstein at proton.me> wrote:
>>
>> Dear Howard,
>>
>> It has nothing to do with the Gītā and I do not recall if it explicitly engages with Euthyphro, but this may nevertheless be pertinent to the philosophical issues that concern you, if you’re not already familiar with it:
>>
>> https://global.oup.com/academic/product/divine-commands-and-moral-requirements-9780198244134?cc=fr&lang=en&
>>
>> Good luck,
>> Matthew
>>
>> Matthew Kapstein
>> Paris
>>
>> Sent from Proton Mail for iOS
>>
>> On Mon, Jul 10, 2023 at 05:05, Nagaraj Paturi via INDOLOGY <[indology at list.indology.info](mailto:On Mon, Jul 10, 2023 at 05:05, Nagaraj Paturi via INDOLOGY <<a href=)> wrote:
>>
>>> Just noticed that there was an inadvertent typing in my post . I wanted to say
>>>
>>> इति ते ज्ञानमाख्यातं गुह्याद्गुह्यतरं मया।
>>>
>>> विमृश्यैतदशेषेण यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु।।18.63।।
>>>
>>> too shows that the author of Geetaa does not make Krishna's words any command.
>>>
>>> That getting typed as
>>>
>>> divine command too shows that the author of Geetaa does not make Krishna's words any command
>>>
>>> was some inadvertent typing mistake.
>>>
>>> On Mon, Jul 10, 2023 at 4:39 AM Howard Resnick <hr at ivs.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Thank you again Nagaraj, especially for the insight on Bg 3.2
>>>>
>>>> Best wishes,
>>>> Howard
>>>>
>>>>> On Jul 9, 2023, at 9:08 AM, Nagaraj Paturi <nagarajpaturi at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I do not know whether in the Greek philosophical discussion, the question of adhikaarabheda was brought by either Plato or Euthyphro with regard to the question of
>>>>>
>>>>> are some acts good because the gods command them, or do the gods command them because they are good
>>>>>
>>>>> But in a typical Vedic / Indic setup of such discussions ,
>>>>>
>>>>> answers to such questions are resolved through the method of adhikaara bheda
>>>>>
>>>>> For a non scholarly adhikaari : some acts good because the gods command them,
>>>>>
>>>>> and for a scholarly adhikaari : the gods command them because they are good
>>>>>
>>>>> scholarly adhikaari does not hesitate to reason out why the acts are good independent of the command from the god(s) and then reason out that as the reason for the god(s) commanding it
>>>>>
>>>>> a non scholarly adhikaari does not put that effort to reasoning and follows the easy path of reasoning, namely those acts are good because the gods command them.
>>>>>
>>>>> The verses such as
>>>>>
>>>>> सर्वोपनिषदो गावो दोग्धा गोपालनन्दनः ।
>>>>> पार्थो वत्सः सुधीर्भोक्ता दुग्धं गीतामृतं महत्
>>>>>
>>>>> in " Geetaamaahatmya" ,
>>>>>
>>>>> do not reflect any attitude of command towards the sentences addressed by Krishna to Arjuna. Such verses do not hesitate to characterize the sentences addressed by Krishna to Arjuna as the summary distilled from older texts Upanishads that are not actually viewed as 'His' command. Upanishads have many examples of reasoning out to lead to certain conclusions.
>>>>>
>>>>> Scholars in their discussions , deliberations , bhaashyas, vyaakhyaanas , vaakyaarthas, shaastraarthas, pravachanas etc., spend a great amount of their discourse in reasoning out the logical validity of the sentences addressed by Krishna to Arjuna.
>>>>>
>>>>> Why, Arjuna himself is made to reason out with Krishna regarding the reasonability or quality of making sense in the words of Krishna and goes to the extent of saying ,
>>>>>
>>>>> व्यामिश्रेणेव वाक्येन बुद्धिं मोहयसीव मे । तदेकं वद निश्चित्य येन श्रेयोऽहमाप्नुयाम् 3-2.
>>>>>
>>>>> " येन श्रेयोऽहमाप्नुयाम् "
>>>>>
>>>>> shows that Arjuna is asking for the basis of श्रेयः for the validity of the instruction, not reflecting any attitude of following the instruction just because it is a divine command.
>>>>>
>>>>> इति ते ज्ञानमाख्यातं गुह्याद्गुह्यतरं मया।
>>>>>
>>>>> विमृश्यैतदशेषेण यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु।।18.63।।
>>>>>
>>>>> divine command too shows that the author of Geetaa does not make Krishna's words any command.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sun, Jul 9, 2023 at 5:01 PM Uskokov, Aleksandar via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Also pertinent may be:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Bina Gupta. "’Bhagavad Gītā’ as Duty and Virtue Ethics: Some Reflections.” The Journal of Religious Ethics, Vol. 34, No. 3 (Sep., 2006), pp. 373-395
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Not set in terms of theEuthyphro dilemma, but Kant's ethics of duty has some affinity with it.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Best wishes,
>>>>>> Aleksandar
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Aleksandar Uskokov
>>>>>> Senior Lector and Associate Research Scholar
>>>>>> South Asian Studies Council and Department of Religious Studies, Yale University
>>>>>> 203-432-1972 | aleksandar.uskokov at yale.edu
>>>>>> "The Philosophy of the Brahma-sutra: An Introduction"
>>>>>> https://www.amzn.com/1350150002/
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Office Hours Sign-up: https://calendly.com/aleksandar-uskokov
>>>>>>
>>>>>> ---------------------------------------------------------------
>>>>>>
>>>>>> From: INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of Alex Watson via INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
>>>>>> Sent: Sunday, July 9, 2023 7:15 AM
>>>>>> To: Howard Resnick <hr at ivs.edu>; Indology List <indology at list.indology.info>
>>>>>> Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Gita moral philosophy
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Dear Howard
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I don't think any of the following discuss the Euthyphro dilemma specifically, but they all analyze 'the ethics of the Gītā' using either the framework of the consequentialism / deontology / virtue ethics trichotomy or the categories of western axiology.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Perrett, Roy W. 1998. Hindu Ethics: A Philosophical Study.  The Gīta's ethics are discussed in all 4 chapters, but especially the first 3.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Perrett, Roy W. 2005. 'Hindu Ethics?' In The Blackwell Companion to Religious Ethics. Edited by William Schweiker. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 323–29.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Sreekumar, Sandeep. 2012. 'An Analysis of Consequentialism and Deontology in the Normative Ethics of the Bhagavadgītā.' Journal of Indian Philosophy 40: 277–315.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Frazier Jessica. 2021. 'Ethics in Classical Hindu Philosophy: Provinces of Consequence, Agency, and Value in the Bhagavad Gītā and Other Epic and Śāstric Texts.' Religions 12(11), 1029; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel12111029
>>>>>>
>>>>>> See also:
>>>>>> Roy Perrett & Glen Pettigrove. 2015. 'Hindu Virtue Ethics.' In Michael Slote & Lorraine Besser-Jones (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Virtue Ethics. New York: Routledge. pp. 51-62.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Yours
>>>>>> Alex
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Sun, Jul 9, 2023 at 10:55 AM Howard Resnick <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
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Alex Watson
>>>>>> Professor of Indian Philosophy
>>>>>> Ashoka University
>>>>>> https://ashokauniversity.academia.edu/AlexWatson
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>>>>>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>>>>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>>
>>>>> 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.
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> 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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