The Virtue of Nonviolence: From Gautama to Gandhi

Since the publication of Alasdair MacIntyre's book After Virtue, virtue ethics has become a major focus in contemporary moral philosophy. This book is a study in comparative virtue ethics, following the lead of Lee H. Yearly’s ground breaking Mencius and Aquinas: Theories of Virtue and Conceptions of Courage (SUNY, 1990). Gier argues that virtue ethics is the best option for constructive postmodern philosophy and that Gandhi’s own thought is best viewed in light of this tradition. The book begins with an analysis of the concept of nonviolence in India as it originated in Jainism, spread to Buddhism, and was gradually taken up by Hinduism. Gandhi was the greatest 20th Century proponent of this Indian tradition, and Gier’s principal thesis is that Gandhi shares a contextual pragmatism with Buddhism, especially in its more socially engaged schools.

Gandhi not only spoke of nonviolence as a virtue, but he also wrote about the unity of goodness and beauty in persons of high moral character. This is an inner moral beauty that comes from the courage of being true to one's self and being true to others. Evidence for an aesthetics of virtue is not strong in the Buddhist texts, so Gier turns to Confucian philosophy to draw comparative points with Gandhi. The book concludes with an assessment of the saints of nonviolence–Buddha, Christ, King, and Gandhi–and offers a charismatic theory of the nature of saints