RECONCILING GANDHI’S PERPETRATOR AND VICTIMHOOD PERSPECTIVES ON VIOLENCE

Knowledge, Intersectionality, and Transcendence

Authors

  • Michael Allen East Tennessee State University

Keywords:

Ahimsa, Intersectionality, Knowledge, Nonviolence, Perpetrators, Transcendence, Truth, Victims, Violence, himsa

Abstract

In this article, I offer not only an alternative but also a superior account of how we might reconcile Gandhi’s perpetrator and victimhood perspectives on violence (himsa). Appealing to both critical social studies and philosophy, I emphasize both the intersections of these two perspectives and their intersection with his metaphysics. I reject the standard approaches to reconciling Gandhi’s commitment to nonviolence with his remarks on the occasional necessity and unavoidability of violence. Instead, I focus on how truth-seekers use their political freedom to ‘pass over,’ or cross and join, many different social viewpoints to gain knowledge and insight concerning the minimum of violence compatible with keeping everyone a path to ahimsa (nonviolence), truth and transcendence. Further, I contend my account of the intersections of nonviolence, violence, truth, and transcendence helps clarify a Gandhian contribution to UNESCO’s vision of knowledge societies through highlighting the kinds of knowledge required for such a path.

Author Biography

Michael Allen, East Tennessee State University

Dr Michael Allen is a professor of political philosophy at East Tennessee State University. He has published extensively on civil disobedience, nonviolence, animal rights, and environmental justice.

References

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Published

2019-12-31

How to Cite

Allen, M. (2019). RECONCILING GANDHI’S PERPETRATOR AND VICTIMHOOD PERSPECTIVES ON VIOLENCE: Knowledge, Intersectionality, and Transcendence. Journal of Dharma, 44(4), 385–404. Retrieved from https://dvkjournals.in/index.php/jd/article/view/220

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