Moral approach
As explained above, moral approach lays greater stress on man making, on changing him from within. Gandhi believed that to attain Swaraj people need to follow the rule of self. Swaraj is also a route to Sarvodaya. Gandhi is not alone in this respect. There are so many writers, political leaders, reformers, religious preachers, mystics and intellectuals who believe that for building a good society man must be changed. It may be noted that this moral approach claims that happiness is available to all. It deemphasizes the considerations of the external world.
To quote Sharma (2007):
… both the victims and the victimizers have to be explained in a non-exclusionary fashion, why the existing relationships are harmful for all, and how a better social structure based on development of all can be established. While commenting on the socialism of his dream Gandhi said that “all for each and each for all” was the quintessence of socialism. This state of society cannot be achieved in a socio-centric theory which focuses on action, abstracting it from limited social context and relating it to rules of self. It, therefore, does not accept institutional change as an end in itself. It assumes that if man follows rules of self, good society will emerge. Small experiments at the grassroots levels are to be considered seriously. Some of them may have potential to emerge as macro movements subsequently. |
Moral considerations are undoubtedly important. Even the institutionalists would not decry the importance of moral character. In any organization – professional, corporate, non-government or welfare, revolutionary or political organization – the leaders as well as members have to be honest, trustworthy, responsible and self-driven to attain the goal of the organization. Some minimal degree of strength of character and altruism is the foundation of all social relationships and interactions.
| 
