Ahimsa: Difference between revisions
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Although one of the ten commandments of [[Christianity]] is 'thou shalt not kill', almost all Christian clergy has interpreted that commandment as applying only to other human beings, but not necessarily to the animals. But ''ahimsa'' is a concept that applies to all 'living beings'. | Although one of the ten commandments of [[Christianity]] is 'thou shalt not kill', almost all Christian clergy has interpreted that commandment as applying only to other human beings, but not necessarily to the animals. But ''ahimsa'' is a concept that applies to all 'living beings'. | ||
''Ahimsa's'' precept that humans should 'cause no injury' to another living being includes one's deeds, words, and thoughts.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kirkwood|first=W.G.|year=1989|title=Truthfulness as a standard for speech in ancient India|journal=Southern Communication Journal|volume=54|number=3|pages=213–234|doi=10.1080/10417948909372758 }}</ref> Classical Hindu texts like the [[Mahabharata]] and the [[Ramayana]], as well as modern scholars,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Struckmeyer|first=F.R.|year=1971|title=The 'Just War' and the Right of Self-defense|journal=Ethics|volume=82|number=1|pages=48–55|doi=10.1086/291828 |s2cid=144638778 }}</ref> disagree about what the principle of | ''Ahimsa's'' precept that humans should 'cause no injury' to another living being includes one's deeds, words, and thoughts.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kirkwood|first=W.G.|year=1989|title=Truthfulness as a standard for speech in ancient India|journal=Southern Communication Journal|volume=54|number=3|pages=213–234|doi=10.1080/10417948909372758 }}</ref> Classical Hindu texts like the [[Mahabharata]] and the [[Ramayana]], as well as modern scholars,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Struckmeyer|first=F.R.|year=1971|title=The 'Just War' and the Right of Self-defense|journal=Ethics|volume=82|number=1|pages=48–55|doi=10.1086/291828 |s2cid=144638778 }}</ref> disagree about what the principle of ''ahimsa'' dictates when one is faced with [[war]] and other situations that require self-defence, as reflected in [[Just war theory|theories of just war]] and debates about [[self-defence]].<ref name=balkaran2012>{{cite journal|last1=Balkaran|first1=R.|last2=Dorn|first2=A.W.|year=2012|url=http://www.sareligionuoft.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/JAAR-Article-Violence-in-the-Valmiki-Ramayana-Just-War-Criteria-in-an-Ancient-Indian-Epic-.pdf|url-status=dead|title=Violence in the Vālmı̄ki Rāmāyaṇa: Just War Criteria in an Ancient Indian Epic|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412060315/http://www.sareligionuoft.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/JAAR-Article-Violence-in-the-Valmiki-Ramayana-Just-War-Criteria-in-an-Ancient-Indian-Epic-.pdf |archive-date=12 April 2019|journal=Journal of the American Academy of Religion|volume=80|number=3|pages=659–690|doi=10.1093/jaarel/lfs036 }}</ref> | ||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
Revision as of 10:20, 13 April 2024
In Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Sikhism, ahimsa (Sanskrit for 'noninjury') is the ethical principle of not causing harm to other living beings.[1]
Although one of the ten commandments of Christianity is 'thou shalt not kill', almost all Christian clergy has interpreted that commandment as applying only to other human beings, but not necessarily to the animals. But ahimsa is a concept that applies to all 'living beings'.
Ahimsa's precept that humans should 'cause no injury' to another living being includes one's deeds, words, and thoughts.[2] Classical Hindu texts like the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, as well as modern scholars,[3] disagree about what the principle of ahimsa dictates when one is faced with war and other situations that require self-defence, as reflected in theories of just war and debates about self-defence.[4]
Notes
- ↑ Encyclopedia Britannica [https://www.britannica.com/topic/ahimsa article on ahimsa, last access 12/4/2020
- ↑ Kirkwood, W.G. (1989). "Truthfulness as a standard for speech in ancient India". Southern Communication Journal 54: 213–234. DOI:10.1080/10417948909372758. Research Blogging.
- ↑ Struckmeyer, F.R. (1971). "The 'Just War' and the Right of Self-defense". Ethics 82: 48–55. DOI:10.1086/291828. Research Blogging.
- ↑ (2012) "Violence in the Vālmı̄ki Rāmāyaṇa: Just War Criteria in an Ancient Indian Epic". Journal of the American Academy of Religion 80: 659–690. DOI:10.1093/jaarel/lfs036. Research Blogging.