Ethics: Moral Concepts, Indian and Western Ethical Theories
Moral concepts
Ethics examines good, right, duty, virtue, happiness, conscience and freedom. A moral judgment may concern character (virtue), action (deontology), or consequences (teleology). Indian ethics uses dharma, karma, puruṣārthas-dharma, artha, kāma, mokṣa-and ahimsa; karma is not fatalism because intention and action shape it.
Indian and Western theories
Mīmāṃsā emphasises duty and Vedic injunction; Buddhism emphasises intention, compassion and the middle path; Jainism emphasises ahimsa and karma; Yoga's yamas are ethical restraints. Western theories include utilitarianism (maximise overall welfare), Kantian deontology (act from duty and universalisable maxims), virtue ethics (flourishing and character), and egoism (self-interest).
Worked example
A promise kept at cost to oneself: a utilitarian may ask whether breaking it produces more overall welfare; a Kantian asks whether promise-breaking could be universalised without destroying the practice of promising; a virtue theorist asks what a truthful, reliable person would do. The example shows that theories differ in what they treat as morally basic, not that only one has reasons.
Traps
Utilitarianism is not 'whatever benefits me'. Karma is not blind fate; it is a moral causal framework. Dharma is context-sensitive, not one rule for all. Do not equate virtue ethics with 'being nice'; it asks about habituation and practical wisdom. Avoid saying deontology ignores consequences entirely.