Tamil Nadu HSE Second Year Ethics and Indian Culture cheat sheet

Ethics (Greek ethos, character) is the systematic study of right conduct; morality is the lived practice of norms; meta-ethics analyses the meaning of moral terms, normative ethics prescribes principles, applied ethics resolves concrete cases.

Consequentialism judges acts solely by outcomes; utilitarianism (Bentham, Mill) requires the greatest happiness for the greatest number; Bentham's hedonic calculus weighs intensity, duration, certainty, nearness, fecundity, purity, extent.

Deontology (Kant) holds that moral worth lies in duty done from duty; the categorical imperative has two tested formulations: act only on maxims universalisable, and treat humanity always as an end, never merely as a means.

Virtue ethics (Aristotle) locates ethics in character; arete (excellence) is cultivated by habituation, the golden mean lies between excess and deficiency, and phronesis (practical wisdom) selects the mean in each situation.

Moral relativism holds that right and wrong depend on culture or individual outlook; its standard refutation is that it cannot criticise harmful practices such as slavery or untouchability without assuming a universal standard.

Distinguish fact and value (Hume's is-ought gap): descriptive statements about what is cannot by themselves entail prescriptive statements about what ought to be; a value premise is always required.

Theories of moral development: Piaget and Kohlberg describe stages from pre-conventional (punishment, reward) through conventional (social approval, law and order) to post-conventional (social contract, universal principle); Gilligan stresses an ethic of care alongside justice.

Tests for a moral decision: universality (would I accept this if roles were reversed), publicity (can the reason be stated openly), reversibility (Rawls's veil of ignorance), and double effect (foreseen but unintended harm may be permissible where the act itself is good).

Dharma derives from the root dhr, to hold or sustain; it denotes that which upholds cosmic, social and individual order, and is distinguished from adharma, its violation.

Fourfold aim of life (purushartha): dharma (righteousness), artha (material means), kama (legitimate desire), moksha (liberation); artha and kama are to be pursued within the limits set by dharma.

Four ashramas order the life-cycle: brahmacharya (studentship), grihastha (householder), vanaprastha (retirement and counsel), sannyasa (renunciation); duties differ by stage, so dharma is context-specific (svadharma).

Pancha-mahayajnas are the five daily obligations of the householder: study (brahma), offering to ancestors (pitru), to gods (deva), to beings (bhuta) and to guests (manushya) - the last expressed as atithi devo bhava.

Yama and niyama are the ethical foundation of yoga: yama comprises ahimsa, satya, asteya, brahmacharya and aparigraha; niyama comprises shaucha, santosha, tapas, svadhyaya and ishvarapranidhana.

Rita in the Rig Veda is the cosmic order or truth that governs natural and moral law; satya (truth) is its human counterpart, giving the maxim satyameva jayate.

Trivarga and the doctrine of yuga-dharma show that dharma is not static: Manu and the epics allow that duties vary with age, capacity, profession and emergency (apat-dharma).

Vasudhaiva kutumbakam (the world is one family) and sarve bhavantu sukhinah express the inclusive social value that extends moral concern beyond kin and nation.

The joint family is the classical Indian social unit: pooled property, shared residence, authority vested in the eldest male or matriarch, and care of the aged and infirm built into the structure.

Sanskara are the life-cycle rites (samskaras) - from namakarana and annaprashana to upanayana and vivaha - that mark social transition and transmit values; the traditional count is sixteen.

Kula, jati and varna are analytically distinct: kula is lineage, jati is endogamous birth-group, varna is the fourfold functional classification; the Constitution abolishes untouchability (Article 17) and prohibits caste discrimination (Article 15).

Panchayat and kutumb systems historically settled disputes by conciliation; modern local governance rests on the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendments (1992), which reserve seats for women and Scheduled Castes and Tribes.

Social ethics requires distinguishing charity from justice: dana (giving) is a personal virtue, whereas structural reform addresses why deprivation exists; Ambedkar's critique of graded inequality belongs to the second approach.

Gender justice: equal remuneration and dignity of women are constitutional goals (Articles 14, 15, 39(d)); practices such as dowry (prohibited, 1961) and child marriage (prohibited, 2006) are legal wrongs, not merely customs.

Family welfare ethics balances individual autonomy with filial duty; the maintenance of parents is a legal obligation under the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007.

Fraternity (the Preamble) is the social-ethical value that requires dignity of the individual and the unity of the nation to be secured together, not traded against each other.

Six orthodox (astika) schools accept Vedic authority: Nyaya (logic and inference), Vaisheshika (atomism and categories), Samkhya (purusha and prakriti dualism), Yoga (Patanjali's eight limbs), Mimamsa (ritual hermeneutics) and Vedanta (Upanishadic interpretation).

Heterodox (nastika) schools reject Vedic authority: Charvaka (materialism, perception alone as valid knowledge), Jainism and Buddhism.

Jainism: the three jewels are right faith, right knowledge and right conduct; anekantavada holds reality is many-sided, syadvada expresses it in qualified predication, and ahimsa is the supreme dharma.

Buddhism: the Four Noble Truths (suffering, its cause in craving, its cessation, the path) and the Eightfold Path grouped as sila (conduct), samadhi (concentration) and prajna (wisdom); anatta denies a permanent self.

Vedanta schools: Advaita (Shankara) holds brahman alone real and the self non-different from it; Vishishtadvaita (Ramanuja) admits qualified non-dualism; Dvaita (Madhva) asserts real distinction between God and souls.

Nyaya's pramanas (valid means of knowledge) are pratyaksha (perception), anumana (inference), shabda (testimony) and upamana (comparison); Advaita adds arthapatti and anupalabdhi.

Bhagavad Gita's three paths: karma yoga (action without attachment to fruits), bhakti yoga (devotion) and jnana yoga (knowledge); nishkama karma is the key ethical formula.

Sikhism (Guru Nanak, founded 15th century) teaches one formless God, equality of all, seva (service), langar (community meal) and the rejection of caste distinction and idol worship.

Classical dance forms and their states: Bharatanatyam (Tamil Nadu), Kathak (Uttar Pradesh), Kathakali and Mohiniyattam (Kerala), Kuchipudi (Andhra Pradesh), Odissi (Odisha), Manipuri (Manipur), Sattriya (Assam).

Bharatanatyam's grammar: nritta (pure rhythmic movement), nritya (expressive dance), natya (drama); key elements are adavu (basic steps), mudra/hasta (hand gestures), abhinaya (expression) and the padam, varnam and tillana items.

Rasa theory (Natyashastra, Bharata) names nine rasas: shringara, hasya, karuna, raudra, veera, bhayanaka, bibhatsa, adbhuta and shanta; rasa is the aesthetic relish evoked in the spectator.

Natyashastra also codifies the navarasa, the four abhinayas (angika, vachika, aharya, sattvika) and the distinction between lokadharmi (realistic) and natyadharmi (conventional) presentation.

Music: the two systems are Hindustani (North) and Carnatic (South); both rest on raga (melodic framework), tala (rhythmic cycle) and shruti (microtonal interval); Tamil music uses pans and the pann-isai tradition.

Temple architecture: Dravidian style has the gopuram gateway, vimana over the sanctum, prakara enclosure and mandapa halls; Nagara style uses the curvilinear shikhara, and Vesara blends both.

Visual arts: Ajanta and Ellora caves (Maharashtra), Chola bronzes (Nataraja), Pallava rock-cut rathas at Mahabalipuram, and the mural and textile traditions of Thanjavur painting and Kanchipuram silk.

Intangible heritage: Koodiyattam (Kerala) and Vedic chanting are UNESCO-recognised; Chola bronzes, Pattachitra painting (Odisha) and Madhubani (Bihar) are examples of living craft traditions.

Sangam literature (c. 300 BCE–300 CE) comprises the Ettuthogai (eight anthologies) and Pattuppattu (ten idylls); Tolkappiyam is the earliest extant Tamil grammar, traditionally attributed to Tolkappiyar.

Tinai is the Sangam classification of landscape and theme: kurinji (hills, love), mullai (forest, waiting), marutham (fields, quarrels and union), neythal (coast, separation) and palai (desert, elopement and hardship).

Thirukkural, by Thiruvalluvar, has 1,330 couplets in three books: Aram (virtue), Porul (wealth and polity) and Kamam (love); it is a universal ethical text independent of sect.

Tamil Bhakti (the Alvars and Nayanmars) produced the Nalayira Divya Prabandham (Vaishnava, 4,000 verses) and the Tevaram (Shaiva, by Appar, Sundarar and Thirugnanasambandar); Andal, Karaikkal Ammaiyar and Manikkavasagar are major figures.

Thiruvalluvar's ethical core: anbu (love), arul (compassion), porai (forbearance), naanuthal (modesty) and the maxim that all virtue is summed up in not doing harm.

Kambaramayanam by Kamban and Silappatikaram by Ilango Adigal (one of the five great epics, with Manimekalai, Jivaka Chintamani, Valayapathi and Kundalakesi) are landmarks of Tamil literary ethics.

Bharathiyar (Subramania Bharati) modernised Tamil poetry and used it for social reform - against caste, for women's education and for freedom - in works such as Panchali Sabatham and Kannan Paattu.

Tamil ethical maxims: yadhum oore, yaavarum kelir (every town is ours, all are kin) from Kaniyan Pungundranar in Purananuru; and aran valiyar thaai - virtue is the true mother, a Kural-based idea.

Gandhi's ethical method: satyagraha (truth-force), ahimsa (non-violence), swadeshi, sarvodaya (welfare of all) and the talisman - decide by asking whether the act helps the poorest and weakest.

Ambedkar's contributions: annihilation of caste, the Mahad Satyagraha (1927), Kalaram temple entry, and drafting of the Constitution as Chair of the Drafting Committee; navayana Buddhism adopted in 1956.

Raja Ram Mohan Roy: Brahmo Sabha (1828), abolition of sati (Regulation XVII, 1829 under Bentinck), advocacy of widow remarriage and women's education; Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar drove the Widow Remarriage Act, 1856.

Periyar E. V. Ramasamy: Self-Respect Movement (1925), Vaikom Satyagraha participation, rationalism and critique of caste and priestcraft; founded Dravidar Kazhagam and journal Kudi Arasu.

Other reformers and their fields: Jyotirao and Savitribai Phule (girls' schooling, widow remarriage, anti-caste), Narayana Guru (Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana, one caste, one religion, one God), Kandukuri Veeresalingam (Telugu widow remarriage).

National integration rests on the Preamble's values - justice, liberty, equality, fraternity - and is protected by Article 51A fundamental duties, the Official Languages provisions and the unity-in-diversity principle.

Tagore and Vivekananda: Tagore's Visva-Bharati and critique of narrow nationalism; Vivekananda's Chicago address (1893) and the message of strength, service and the divinity of each person.

Kamaraj and Rajaji in Tamil Nadu: Kamaraj's midday meal scheme and leadership of the Congress; Rajaji's role as last Governor-General and champion of the Kula Kalvi Thittam debate and prohibition.

Environmental ethics asks what moral standing nature has: anthropocentrism (only humans count), biocentrism (all living beings count) and ecocentrism (ecosystems count); Indian tradition leans toward the second and third.

Ahimsa and the Jain doctrine of anekantavada extend moral concern to animals and plants; the Bishnoi tradition (Khejarli, 1730) is the classic Indian example of community sacrifice to protect trees.

Chipko movement (1973, Uttarakhand) used non-violent hugging of trees; Narmada Bachao Andolan and Silent Valley campaigns are further Indian environmental movements.

Sustainable development (Brundtland Report, 1987) means meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs; the Rio principles and the 2030 Agenda's 17 SDGs operationalise it.

Pollution control law in India: Water Act 1974, Air Act 1981, Environment (Protection) Act 1986 (the umbrella law, after Bhopal 1984), and the National Green Tribunal Act 2010.

Article 48A (directive principle) and Article 51A(g) (fundamental duty) together place environmental protection on both the state and the citizen; Public Interest Litigation has been the main enforcement route.

The five elements (pancha bhutas - earth, water, fire, air, space) are ritually honoured in Tamil and pan-Indian practice; sacred groves (kovil kadu) conserve biodiversity through religious sanction.

Sustainable living rules: reduce, reuse, recycle; prefer public transport and renewable energy; avoid single-use plastic; and apply the precautionary principle where scientific certainty is lacking.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) has 30 articles; India's Part III (Articles 12–35) enshrines enforceable fundamental rights, while Part IV (Articles 36–51) holds non-justiciable directive principles.

Key fundamental rights: equality (14–18), freedom (19–22), against exploitation (23–24), religion (25–28), cultural and educational rights (29–30), and constitutional remedies (32, called the heart and soul of the Constitution by Ambedkar).

The six freedoms of Article 19 are speech and expression, assembly, association, movement, residence, and profession; reasonable restrictions may be imposed on stated grounds such as public order, decency and security of the state.

Human rights protection machinery: National Human Rights Commission (1993 Act), State Human Rights Commissions, and the UN Human Rights Council; writs under Article 32/226 are habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, certiorari and quo warranto.

Ethics of technology: data privacy as a fundamental right (Puttaswamy, 2017), informed consent, algorithmic bias, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, which requires purpose limitation and consent.

Bioethics: informed consent in medical research, the right to die with dignity recognised in Common Cause (2018) as passive euthanasia under strict safeguards, and prohibition of sex determination (PC-PNDT Act, 1994).

Corruption and accountability: the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988, the Right to Information Act 2005, and the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act 2013; ethical governance requires transparency, probity and conflict-of-interest disclosure.

Contemporary dilemmas to argue with principles: capital punishment, euthanasia, surrogacy and organ trade, child labour (Article 24 and the 1986 Act), refugee rights, and AI accountability for autonomous decisions.