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Gandhi's Challenge to Our Paradigm

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Category: Peace Posted by: Anonymous, May-02-09 10:38 AM
Views: 1236 Share

In this paper I focus on one influential rejection of Gandhi's challenge to our assumptions about justifiable violence. I hope to show that nothing in Gandhi's writings justifies this rejection of Gandhi's challenge or supports violence in the ways assumed by contemporary Western philosophers. Instead, the question of whether violence is justified is an open question and Gandhi has provided reasons for thinking that it is not. by Bart Gruzalski

Challenge to our Paradigm - PDF

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Sat May/09/09 14:03:00

From: John

Response: Pg 15 Summarizes the paradigm of non-violence. Gandhis claim is plausible that one cannot make a radical social change and come out with a non-violent result if one uses violence. Gandhis preferences are always in the direction of transformation. Bravery is closer to non-violence than is being a coward, and so Gandhi prefers even violent bravery to the non-violence of the coward. But this is not to reaffirm or justify the paradigm of violence. Gandhis preference does not imply that violence is to remain the paradigm of self-defense, the defense of innocents, or of radical social change. Instead, nothing Gandhi has written or said justifies our orthodox norms but, instead, everything questions them. The man defending his family must use violence if he cannot use non-violence, but it is incumbent upon him to learn the bravery of the non-violent, and it is incumbent upon all of us who want a better world, or who think that the prevention of unnecessary violence and killing is our moral duty, to work for the transformation to such a world by studying and affirming the transformative power of non-violence. Gandhi never thought that violence would be a way of effectively changing a situation into one which was inherently nonviolent. From Gandhis perspective, if violence is the means, then the resultant situation will be tainted by violence. Even though Gandhi clearly thought that the violent defense of loved once was preferable to cowardly flight, to prefer something is not to think that it is justifiable.