Abstract
The attributes and representative spirit of a culture, era, or community, as manifested in its attitude and aspiration, hold the concept of ethos. Likewise, every civilization has its own unique ethos; however, at present, it is shared through multiple globalized dynamics such as—media, technology, and other connectivities. The communication gaps have been filled with unique mediums; people are more open to new things, and comforts have increased dramatically. Nevertheless, despite such liberal and contemporary facts, we have encountered several problems and value degradation in every aspect of human life. Service and leadership, art and aesthetics, ethics and morality, politics and society, science and law, and many other realms of human endeavour have been filled with much more complexity and crisis than before. It provokes intellectuals to rethink contemporary civilization and inspires the present critical research on top. Practically surrounded by all such challenges and selecting a few of them, this paper aims to address the complexities and stepping stones in the path of leadership, holistic ethics, and human well-being from philosophical perspectives while presenting a dystopian picture of contemporary reality and continuously following the critical method. Additionally, the conclusion and uniqueness of this paper locate within the fundamental questions raised in the present composition regarding the above-selected themes and an emphasis on the renaissance of inclusive ethics and virtuous leadership.
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Notes
Kant’s deontological approach, Simon Blackburn’s moral objectivism, R.M hare’s universalizability concept are some of the best example, which protects the moral realism and countered the moral relativism. See- Shafer-Landau, R. (2005). Moral Realism: A Defence. United Kingdom: Clarendon Press.
Susan Wolf beautifully defines ‘‘who is the Moral Saint?’In her famous paper ‘‘moral saints’, the moral saint is someone who always (or almost always) chooses to act to improve the welfare of others and society as a whole. She proposes two types of Moral Saints (what they choose to be moral?)—one is the Loving Saint (Utilitarianism)—one who's happiness is always derived from helping others and another is the Rational Saint (Kantianism)—one for whom happiness is always subjugated to the moral law. See- Wolf, S. (1982). Moral Saints. The Journal of Philosophy, 79(8), 419–439. https://doi.org/10.2307/2026228
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Acknowledgements
I heartily thank the two anonymous referees whose observations and patent review have hugely improved this paper and saved me from many an error. I also acknowledge the positive influence of the culture of the Department of Philosophy and Religion, Banaras Hindu University Varanasi, that trained me to think philosophically and raise critical questions as discussed in this paper.
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Rajan Critique of Contemporary Civilization Ethos and Public Leadership Crisis: A Dystopian Interpretation and Philosophical Prospects. J. Indian Counc. Philos. Res. 40, 35–64 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40961-023-00297-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40961-023-00297-x