Tamil Nadu HSE First Year Ethics and Indian Culture flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Ethics

The systematic study of moral principles that guide right and wrong conduct, derived from the Greek word 'ethos' meaning character or custom; it is reflective and normative rather than merely descriptive.

Instrumental vs intrinsic value

Intrinsic value is worth something possesses in itself, such as truth or life; instrumental value is worth as a means to an end, such as money or a tool.

Purusharthas

The four legitimate aims of human life in Hindu thought: Dharma (righteousness), Artha (material prosperity), Kama (legitimate desire), and Moksha (liberation). Dharma regulates the other three.

Culture and Sanskriti

Culture, from Latin 'cultura' meaning cultivation, denotes the total way of life of a society; Sanskriti denotes the process of refinement of the individual through learning and discipline.

Unity in diversity

A salient feature of Indian culture in which linguistic, religious, and regional differences coexist within a shared civilisational framework of epics, festivals, pilgrimage, and common values.

Sanskritisation

A concept coined by sociologist M. N. Srinivas describing the process by which lower castes adopt the rituals, customs, and lifestyle of upper castes to claim higher social status.

Acculturation

The process by which a society adopts cultural traits, practices, or values from another society through sustained direct contact, producing cultural change in one or both groups.

Joint family

A family form in which members of several generations live under one roof, share property and resources, and hold common obligations under the authority of the eldest member.

Ashrama scheme

The four life stages in Hindu tradition: brahmacharya (studentship), grihastha (householder), vanaprastha (retirement), and sannyasa (renunciation), each carrying distinct social duties.

Yaadhum Oore Yaavarum Kelir

A famous Tamil maxim from Purananuru meaning 'all towns are ours, all people our kin', expressing the universal kinship and hospitality central to Tamil social values.

Astika and nastika schools

Astika schools accept the authority of the Vedas, including Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimamsa, and Vedanta; nastika schools such as Charvaka, Jainism, and Buddhism reject Vedic authority.

Nishkama karma

The Bhagavad Gita's principle of performing one's duty without attachment to the fruits or results of action, treating ethical action as an end in itself.

Anekantavada

The Jain doctrine of many-sidedness, holding that reality is complex and can be described from multiple viewpoints; it grounds tolerance and non-violence in thought and speech.

Alvars and Nayanmars

Tamil Bhakti poet-saints devoted to Vishnu (twelve Alvars) and Shiva (sixty-three Nayanmars), whose hymns form the Divya Prabandham and Tevaram and shaped Tamil religious culture.

Silappathikaram

A Tamil epic by Ilango Adigal telling the story of Kannagi's quest for justice, celebrated as one of the Five Great Epics and a landmark of Tamil ethical and literary heritage.

Dravidian architecture

A South Indian temple style characterised by the gopuram gateway tower, vimana over the sanctum, pillared mandapa halls, and enclosing prakara walls, exemplified by Thanjavur's Brihadeeswarar Temple.

Tolkappiyam

The earliest extant Tamil grammatical and poetic treatise, describing phonology, morphology, and poetics including the akam (love) and puram (public life) divisions of Sangam literature.

Integrity

The quality of consistency between one's stated values and actual conduct, so that a person acts on principle whether or not others are watching or rewarding them.

Conflict of interest

A situation in which a professional's personal interest, relationship, or gain could improperly influence judgement; the standard remedies are disclosure, avoidance, or recusal.

Whistle-blowing

Disclosure by an insider of serious wrongdoing within an organisation; it is generally justified when wrongdoing is grave, internal remedies are exhausted, and disclosure is proportionate.

Satyagraha

Gandhi's method of non-violent resistance based on truth-force, in which the resister accepts suffering rather than inflicting harm, aiming to convert the opponent through moral appeal.

Sustainable development

Development meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs, as defined in the 1987 Brundtland Report; it requires intergenerational and intragenerational equity.

Anthropocentrism

An ethical position holding that only human beings have intrinsic moral value and that nature matters only insofar as it serves human interests; contrasted with biocentrism and ecocentrism.

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam

A Sanskrit maxim meaning 'the world is one family', expressing the Indian ethical view of universal kinship and responsibility extending beyond one's own community to all living beings.

Chipko movement

A 1973 Indian forest-protection movement in Uttarakhand in which villagers, especially women, hugged trees to prevent felling, symbolising grassroots environmental ethics and community rights.

UDHR

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948, containing thirty articles on civil, political, economic, social, and cultural rights.

NHRC

The National Human Rights Commission, established under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993, to inquire into complaints of human rights violations and recommend remedies.

National integration

The process of building a unified national identity across a diverse society while preserving cultural plurality; obstacles include communalism, casteism, linguism, regionalism, and separatism.

Antyodaya

A Gandhian and Indian social-justice principle meaning the uplift of the last and most disadvantaged person, used to judge policy by its benefit to the weakest.

Value education

Education aimed at developing moral reasoning, character, and responsible citizenship through direct instruction, curriculum integration, and experiential learning in and beyond school.

Digital ethics

The study of moral conduct online, covering data privacy, informed consent, cyberbullying, misinformation, and responsible use of digital platforms; Indian law includes the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Polluter pays principle

An environmental-ethics and legal principle holding that those who cause pollution should bear the cost of managing it, so that environmental harm is reflected in production costs.