 Before, we speak about the Gandhian Cardinal Virtues, I would just like to put forth a little thought experiment for you. Now, suppose you are going to buy any item in a market, let us say it is a phone, let us say it is a mobile phone. What are the factors that you would consider while buying a mobile phone? Then what are the factors that you would not consider? Now, this seems to be quite a intuitively answered question, but what I raise this question to bring in the Gandhian notion of ethics in economics and in daily life in commerce about how we take decisions. So, what would you consider? What would you value while purchasing a mobile phone? Would you value the facilities it has, the facilities you require, the brand image of the manufacturer, the reliability of the manufacturer, the review, the warranty period, the guarantee period, the price of course, and the value for money that you are getting. Apart from these, which perhaps many of us would value, if not all, at least some of them apart for the fact that how it looks, apart from these, would you value whether the employer or whether the brand or the company manufacturing the mobile phone is an equal opportunity provider, whether it uses child labour or forced labour or not, whether it indulges in corporate social responsibility or not, whether the seller is given or the distributor or the reseller is given an adequate share, what are the terms and conditions and how are the working environment of the workers. Now, one standard answer to the way we go about this today is that well, these things do not or should not concern us, our commercial decisions are very factual decisions which regard to our usage of it, we need not look at the big picture, but look at the small picture that well, as long as the product suits us and we can afford it, we should make a buy, there is no difference about it. What if I have one mobile phone and I require another one, well if I can afford it I should buy it, what if I have two and I want another one, what if I would like to replace the one that I have with the newer model that comes in, if I can afford it I should be doing it or if I can afford it and I want to do it, there is no reason why I should not do it, well here is where Gandhian ethics comes in, Gandhian ethics comes in here that well, when we talk about it in detail that well Gandhian world view is that there is no sharp distinction between commerce and ethics and ethics is a part of the way we go about our lives and there are various factors that should or that ought to be considered. So, just an affordance level does not guarantee an normative decision, let us look at this as an example perhaps discussed earlier too, say in a water starved city we have people queuing up for drinking water and in the same city a plush hotel can afford better water in its flush tanks and bath tubs and so people are here at one end of the city are have to fend for a limited supply of portable water and thereof it is expensive or they have to pay for it and at the other end they have because they can pay for it they have unregulated or a lot of access to water in a water scarce environment. Now, it is here that when we tend to think that commercial or financial ability gives us normative justification to purchase or to acquire or to use resources it is here that Gandhi would disagree that well your financial ability may give you the minimum essential to for the utilization of resources, but that does not wholly determine the justification for the use of a resource. Let this question play about in your mind and with these little thought experiment that what would you consider as the Gandhian means of how would you assess the Gandhian way of working you can extrapolate it into various aspects of life say on a busy city road a car occupying say X meter cube of space carrying one person and a bus occupying 3 X meter cube of space carrying 30 people now what should be given who should be given preference over the other what sense does it make simple fact that well if there are more number of people should that be given a preference or because I can afford a car I can join the traffic and because I can afford a car and the fuel for it I can actually use it and the rest of the factors are irrelevant anyway let this little thought experiment play in your mind and let us now quickly look at what are the Gandhian at the cardinal virtues of Gandhian ethics. Now if you look at the screen you see though these are fairly straight jacketed cardinal virtues taken out of directly out of the Indian tradition. So, Gandhi's addition is only to one or two more virtues well Gandhi as we see is Gandhi's traditional virtues are contiguous with traditional Indian virtues and like all Indian philosophical schools with the exception of Charwaka the moral law is held as universal and that the nature of the world is moral that is the world is not an immoral place the world is not an aggregate of facts it is not a congregation of facts and virtues are to be practiced in thought word and deed and there was of course Gandhi's stress on authenticity that thought and word is not enough and it has to be practiced in our intentions motives and deed well the first virtue is Ahimsa or non violence this is regarded as the most important virtue most important virtue and it is based on tolerance and love. Gandhi brings in God belief in God as a part of his world view and for him God realization for the God realization love for every being is necessary other virtues can be practiced only after Ahimsa is followed Satya or truth truth is conceived as God and individuals access to truth is obstructed by the various obstacles last anger greed infatuation pride and falsehood Gandhi is aware that falsehood may pay off better than truth but truth is superior because even falsehood that pays off better does so only because it claims to be the truth for that period of time. So even fall the very fact that falsehood works is words because it is in the garb of truth as they are non stealing not possessing the property that does not rightfully belong to one more strictly not possessing property that one does not need in this is influenced from the Jain tradition where property is seen as the outer life of an individual and any violation of the same is a violation of an individual or him so now you we can perhaps just take a look at this slide and understand that well Gandhi does not come up with a strict community communistic outlook Gandhi respects property and property following the Jain tradition that well the property is the incarnation of our external life and therefore snatching away property or not handling property properly is also an act of violence or hints against somebody so property that way Gandhi is not a radical as a communist that would say that well property is all properties theft or that property is wicked and that needs to be snatched away from those in excess of it. So definitely we see if you look at the slide and not a non-communistic reading of Gandhi clearly evident when we talk about as they are non stealing because it does not justify forceful distribution or redistribution of property all properties definitely not theft and property is not property is an expression of an individual's external life therefore due care has to be allotted to it. Aparigraha or non acceptance the tendency to possess things is an evil according to Gandhi. Now Aparigraha or non acceptance means well not that there should be no possession at all but we should have possessions that are bare essentials this is the foundation for universal love the tendency to possess things is an evil according to Gandhi. Now let us look at it this way in the contemporary world sense. Now if we see there are various what are the broad driving principles of the world economic order if it is understood that there has to be an ever rising demand to fuel and ever rising supply and that in case fuels or requires an ever increasing manufacturing or production and that leads to an ever increasing requirement for labour and labour reward. So this becomes an escalating scale which brings about flourishment which perhaps roughly speaking can be translated as an economy in a boom phase. Now this would be perhaps the ideal to take place. Now Gandhi when he talks about Aparigraha or non acceptance or strictly as possessing items as much as required is well that we need not keep on increasing our requirements and thereof causing a spin out in the increase in supply and consequence in production and thereof that that is not a world order that Gandhi would support. Gandhi would support that well yes we need things for our existence and things are shell of our external life but this shell or these things should not take over our life and therefore if I have a mobile phone that works fairly this constant need for updating into newer and more latest more attractive versions without any strict increase in utility or without any significant increase in utility is again what Gandhi would want us as things taking over people rather than people using things. We can get very clear examples of these things. Now look at it this way everywhere we are beamed into with advertisements and advertising channels and new kinds of products that are trying to create a demand in us. So, as the eternal statement or the eternally famous statement of Gandhi goes that nature creates enough for man's need but not for man's greed. So, when we have enough for our existence it is for individuals themselves to put a stop or a pause or a slow down on their requirements instead of letting it escalate without any limits. So, when we talk about this cardinal virtue of a parigra or non acceptance Gandhi is very clear about it as mentioned in the slide that the tendency to possess things is an evil according to Gandhi especially when it goes out of control. Absolute of course Gandhi is not naive in this sense claiming that an absolute discarding of all possessions but says that well absolute non-position is definitely not feasible. So, one ought to possess only the bare essentials. Now imagine if we are only possessing the bare essentials or that what we require as bare essential we bring about a kind of sense of simplicity and that according to Gandhi will bring about the foundation for universal love. Next cardinal virtue that Gandhi talks about is Brahmacharya or celibacy. Now, popularly Brahmacharya can be understood as abstinence from sex but Gandhi understands it as both control over the sexual urge in particular but also a control and restraint over the senses and mind. So, Brahmacharya would according to Gandhi put forth that well it is a general regulation of desires to not let the desires take over human decision making rather the desires should be in line with decision with the human agency. Now, this the virtues that we talked about till now were the virtues that are contiguous with the Indian tradition. Now, these are the virtues that Gandhi adds as cardinal virtues when he talks about Abhaya or fearlessness. For Abhaya or fearlessness is a virtue because cowards can never be moral. For morality requires the courage to overcome the fear of shame, hunger and pain. If one does take the path of morality it is bound to land one in trouble as many opponents of free software have also said that well freedom is not free. We have to pay price for following the moral path. So, if we are trying to do something morally right it is going to land us into some inconvenient circumstances and to face these inconvenient circumstances courage is a must. And finally, Gandhi talks about faith in God that all the prior mentioned virtues can be found on, founded on faith in the ultimate goodness of God. So, based on the belief that ultimate nature of the world is moral. So, the cornerstone or key addict again comes out to be faith in the goodness of God or in the moral nature of the world. So, this is not necessarily a belief in theistic nature, but that the order of the world is not a moral that there is a moral nature of the world that morality is not a creation of human mind that it is the very nature of the world we live in. So, when to understand Gandhi's God we need to be open we need not be a theist or an atheist is not that an atheist is inaccessible to Gandhi's version of God. But when we talk about Gandhi's notion of moral nature of the world is that foundationally the nature is the world has a moral quality and it is not a quality that is superimposed by us human beings. So, it is talks about the moral nature of the world. Now, looking at the next slide which is very crucial which is almost handed over to one of Gandhi's friend by Gandhi on a chit on a piece of paper Gandhi talks about seven social sins well politics without principles wealth without work pleasure without conscience knowledge without character commerce without morality science without humanity and worship without sacrifice now I would just take this particular aspect when we talk about wealth without work and commerce without morality now when we look at here is where I would bring forth that well for Gandhi the crucial aspect of living is morality or ethics itself. So, as you could see from the seven social sins that Gandhi once was against all of them deal with different facets of life say politics say commerce say science say knowledge but are all ultimately tied up with value terms be it character be it principles be it morality be it all those mentioned as essential requirements for the former to progress now I will today I will now concentrate only on these two fundamental claims that well commerce without morality and wealth without work now Gandhi talks about something called the bread labour well what is meant by the bread labour well bread labour is that well simply put that man must a human beings should work for their living that whatever bread we have comes out of the product of our labour now this is a very simple but a profound claim because well what it negates is that when we create when we acquire or when we possess or create wealth without any work so this perhaps brings in Gandhi's insistence is further by work he only meant physical work so it was necessary for us to do some physical work to earn our bread and it was not just so you can take it as a critique of wealth that is earned as interest that is in fact the Gandhian way of living is far away from the way we know the world today because interest is no more taken at a normal taken as a sin or as a undeserved fruit that we get out of labour so by bread labour Gandhi insists that we have to work for our living or we have to work for our living and it should not be without any work Gandhi brings in about when we talks about commerce without morality when we talked about this example of purchasing a mobile phone what matters well what would matter to it is a commercial transaction where is the morality aspect in it now we are perhaps tend to classify in the humane notion as the world difference between facts and values and commerce deals with the world of facts and values have nothing to do with it now Gandhi is a strict critique of such a world view there where values are divorced from facts that well where commerce is divorced from values that well values are to be the core of decisions and facts only inform the circumstances of the decision so whenever there is commerce it cannot be in isolation of morality so it starts by talking about bread labour that well we should have we should have to work for our living well a lot of concepts of Gandhi are tied around these ethical concepts are tied around these notions like Sarvodaya and Swadeshi and so on and so forth but let us just quickly take a look at what is Gandhian ethics when they what is or what kind of a ethical world that Gandhi imagines first Gandhi imagines the world totally as an ethical world that every decision is a moral decision it is we cannot divorce the world of facts from the world of values now the ontological belief of this comes from the fact that not from the belief that Gandhi had acquired from Isha Upanishad which stated that well all property or all material objects in this world belong to God and we are mere users of the same now this also brings forth the notion of trusteeship which we will talk about in a few moments from now so well what Gandhi insists if you look in the slide is that well sense of possession or sense of possessing material objects is erroneous so that we never really possess material objects we are users of material objects at the most and it is possessed by God according to Gandhi now this sense of if this is kept on in our mind that we do not actually possess objects but we are we are the keepers of material objects or outlook to the world changes a lot now Gandhi was limiting the use of technology now that seems to be quite a contentious point that we are coming across when we talk about that well Gandhi is talking about limiting the use of technology and machinery and so now this would perhaps we counter intuitive to most of us from today's perspective that well technology is a good thing and we must have it as much as possible well what Gandhi meant by this is that well first there are many problems with the use of technology and machinery first technology and machinery trends to bring about cities and cities are not a very cities bring about anonymity and therefore a distance between people cities according to Gandhi is not a happy place to be in fact Gandhi critics this whole notion of modernity which is bound on the industrial civilization and the evolution of urban centers of living so the urban centers of living are do not end out to be a happy place to be industrialization rampant industrialization causes alienation or causes labor to be distanced from the whole process of creating a single entity and we become specialized workers this is in common strain with how even the communists would argue against the industrial culture. Technology or having too much of Gandhi is definitely not against machinery or the usage of machinery but what he is against is that getting obsessed with the use of machinery. So, when we have a wheel how much better can you make a wheel so when you have discovered the shape for a wheel how much better can you make it. So, Gandhi's outlook is that well machinery should be designed developed used only to fulfill the necessities of human beings it should not go ahead in us requiring constantly new machines to intrigue us. Now look at it this way this makes a lot of relevance if you place this context in the notion of say the computer industry today that well a lot of addition or evolution or newness that is coming into the software in the hardware is simply put unnecessary it is simply put to keep each machine or each software to be a little more advanced than the former version and to keep this chain continuing. So, to have an aggressive upscaling to enhance market to have the latest gadget and information keep coming on. So, this in turn if you would see a whole generation of people are look forward to the release of a new piece of machinery or a new software and continue with it. So, it no more is that machine playing a role of utility in that individual's life but rather the individual seeks his fulfillment or purpose in acquiring the latest piece of machinery or software that comes out to be. Now, this is prevalent amongst us that we all look for the latest version of the hardware or software that comes out to be but is the latest version really required version did not the earlier version do its job properly are all revisions necessary or these are commercial decisions to phase out the older ones and bring out newer ones which may not be necessary at all but which are necessary to make the computer industry thrive or be on the boom path as so mentioned. So, Gandhi cautions us against this obsession with machinery that we continuously look for newer machinery and machinery takes over our life or technology takes over our life where we are constantly looking for something new and utility goes back which was the primary motive of technology utility takes a backseat. So, that I think is a very interesting caution that we can import from Gandhian world view to how we are today. So, limiting the use of technology according to Gandhi is a requirement now Gandhi he did not abhor machineries rather he wanted to use machineries to limit the craze for machineries and he was against the indiscriminate expansion and use of machineries. Now, let me talk about what Gandhi means by trusty ship we just talked about trusty ship sometime back well according to Gandhi and Gandhi's relation with the capitalist of his times was quite good. In fact, he was able to get a lot of willing voluntary donations from the capitalists of those times and Gandhi has known to have had good relations with the capitalist families of India at that time. Well, one thing that we need to learn about Gandhi is Gandhi does not demonize the capitalist or does not demonize the wealthy person or wealth. In fact, there is a stark difference between the communistic out look and of the Gandhian out look where Gandhi does not demonize the capitalist at all instead the Gandhi recognizes the capitalist as a trusty of wealth. Now, if again going back that well if all the sense of possession if that is loosened and we see ourselves as trustees of our wealth because this wealth or this possessions or material possessions that are with us are not going to stay with us simply because we are not going to stay forever. So, for the time we live we have these material things with us and we are mere trustees of these simple of these material things. It is a very simple common sensical truth which is perhaps evident if one takes a very simple naive look to life that well we are not we are having finite lives and therefore, what we own is owning only during the duration of our life. So, we are not owning in a way anything that way. So, Gandhi goes ahead and has put forth this notion of trusteeship where the wealthy as long as wealth is created he is has no problem with it. As long as the sense of possession or the lack of upper degree comes with this creation of wealth that is where the problem is. So, the wealthy are simply the trustees of their wealth and their wealth they have to decide on which best platform it should go on to. So, trusteeship by trusteeship it means that well the rich are only the trustees of their wealth not the possessors of their wealth. So, if this outlook is brought about in the wealthy then trusteeship the notion of trusteeship comes out to be or the wealthy are mere trustees of their wealth and therefore, the sense of giving and usage is much better than what we find in a possessive material greed. In fact, there have been a lot of instances of and corporations which have grown acquired wealth and then gone ahead with philanthropy. So, this is what comes out perhaps which makes true Gandhian claim that well after a certain point which is for the use of one's own bare necessities wealth is just a trusted upon to the wealthy and for its effective utilization. So, we find enormous foundations of these wealthy corporations coming up trying to distribute wealth, but well Gandhi paints a very optimistic picture of life and at every moment or optimistic hope or optimistic version of human existence and this cynic or the critic sitting at every moment would denounce it at every stage as impractical or not feasible, but well we will not take that question now, but what we need to understand is the Gandhian way of living. Now we will go ahead and talk with another notion or another ethical notion of Gandhi which has affected in fact the history of the world which is the notion of Satyagraha.