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DC Field | Value | Language |
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dc.contributor.advisor | Sivaraman, K. | en_US |
dc.contributor.author | Gopalan, Subramania | en_US |
dc.date.accessioned | 2014-06-18T17:01:38Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2014-06-18T17:01:38Z | - |
dc.date.created | 2013-05-29 | en_US |
dc.date.issued | 1976-07 | en_US |
dc.identifier.other | opendissertations/7818 | en_US |
dc.identifier.other | 8907 | en_US |
dc.identifier.other | 4178726 | en_US |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11375/12979 | - |
dc.description.abstract | <p>The present work is concerned with the explication of a philosophy of good life that could possibly be discerned in the ancient Tamil classic, Tirukkuṟaḷ. Though the Classic itself does not go into the details of 'definitions' and analysis of 'rival views', on a careful study of the text and the commentaries - both classical and modern -- we find that the Classic incorporates a philosophy of good life which is at once reflective of the Indian view-point and is also suggestive of newer approaches and perspectives.</p> <p>The argument of the thesis is that the philosophy of good life found in the Kuṟaḷ is directly derivable from the philosophy of religion inherent in it. The method adopted by the author of the Kuṟaḷ to get at the essence of religion, we have argued, is not by referring abstractly to religion per se but by accepting certain aspects and rejecting certain other aspects of the religions current in the Indian scene during his time. The methodology adopted by Tiruvaḷḷuvar, the author of the Tamil classic, when investigated, reveals that it is not possible to label the Classic either as a Brahmanical Hindu work or as a Jaina work or as a Buddhist work. Hence, after indicating our own methodology study in chapter 1, we have examined the relationship between Tirukkuṟaḷ on the one hand and the three Indian traditions on the other, in chapter 2. We have arrived at the conclusion that the Kuṟaḷ, without rejecting in toto, Brahmanical Hindu ideas, Jaina ideas and the Buddhist ideas, accepts aspects of them which do not smack of a sectarian character, and makes subtle but significant modifications in them all to arrive at the essence of religion. Tiruvaḷḷuvar seems to imply that the essence of religion consists in aiming at and realizing the Good.</p> <p>The good life, from this point of view is seen to stand for a transcendent goal inherent in human life which, all the same cannot be realized in a sphere distinct from or outside of life in society. In its barest outlines: our argument is that the qualitative improvements to life in society that a prime moral principle effectuates, when adhered to, indicates aspects of the good life. We have suggested that both the ultimate Ideal and the idealizations of inter-personal relations in society help the individual in realizing the Good. In more specific terms: the realization of the ultimate Ideal itself is synonymous with realizing ideal perfectibility in the 'more immediate' spheres of life in society. Such a philosophy of Good life, characteristic of the Tamil classic has been responsible for its exhorting an activistic, this-worldly ethics, without belittling the value of or disregarding the importance of 'ultimate realization', we have maintained. The cue for our interpretation has been that even though the Kuṟaḷ refers to Aṟam, poruḷ and iṉpam (the three values) in three different sections, the thrust of the whole work is to maintain the supremacy of Aṟam. This is the basis of our considering poruḷ and iṉpam as extensions of Aṟam and not as independent values. In sum we have argued that the Kuraḷ' s philosophy of good life is illustratively evident from the way in which it treats of Aṟam as underlying every aspect of human life. Chapters 3,4 and 5 are respectively devoted for Aṟam and its 'extensions'. In chapter 6"we have drawn the strings of our argument together and summarized the results of our investigation.</p> | en_US |
dc.subject | Religious Sciences | en_US |
dc.subject | Religion | en_US |
dc.subject | Religion | en_US |
dc.title | Toward a Philosophy of Good Life in Tirukkuṟaḷ (An Analysis of the concept of Aṟam and Its Relation to other asp ects of Good Life) | en_US |
dc.type | thesis | en_US |
dc.contributor.department | Religious Sciences | en_US |
dc.description.degree | Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) | en_US |
Appears in Collections: | Open Access Dissertations and Theses |
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fulltext.pdf | 120.68 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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