?Is Ethical Religion Possible
Journal of Philosophical Investigations September 10, 2024 Amita Valmiki
Four thinkers—Kierkegaard, Gandhi, Ranade, and Ambedkar—each linked ethics and religion in distinct ways. Kierkegaard saw faith as a realm beyond rational commitment, reached after passing through aesthetic and ethical stages. Gandhi held that truth and morality are inseparable from religion, which underlay his political and social work. Ranade emphasized that mystical experience includes universality, intellect, emotion, intuitive spiritual realization, and morality. Ambedkar, rejecting Christianity and Islam, adopted Buddhism because it aligns with reason and science, critiquing Brahmanism; his conversion was a political movement, resulting in Neo-Buddhism. The article compares these views toward an ethical religion that appeals to the author's conscience.