தமழ இலககயஙகளல வழவயல அற மரணபடகள: Ethical Conflicts in Life as Portrayed in Tamil Literature

Ethics (Aram) plays an indispensable role in refining human life and maintaining harmonious relationships between the individual and society. It serves as a guiding principle that determines how a person should live, how one should conduct oneself towards others, what one’s duties towards society are, and how a balance should be maintained between rights and responsibilities. Tamil literature is one of the significant primary sources for understanding the ideas and values of life in Tamil society. From Sangam literature to ethical works, epics, devotional literature, medieval literature, and modern and contemporary literature, various dimensions of human life and ethical thoughts have been recorded. However, the ethical ideas found in literature are not all uniform in nature. The meaning and practice of ethics vary according to factors such as time, place, social structure, political circumstances, economic conditions, religious background, gender relations, and family structure. As a result, an action considered ethical in one context may be regarded as contrary to ethics in another. Therefore, it is essential to approach ethics not merely as a concept of morality or good conduct, but also to examine the conflicts between different ethical principles and their underlying social contexts.