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🟦 IAS Mains 2018 — Essay 4
“Customary morality cannot be a guide to modern life.”
Tagline: Why Tradition Must Yield to Reason in a Changing World
🟧 1. Fodder Seeds — Strategic Brainstorm Points 💡
Customary morality = traditions, social norms, inherited practices
Morality evolves with context; customs often lag behind
What was once “normal” may now be unjust
Custom ≠ ethics; legality ≠ morality
Custom can perpetuate inequality and exclusion
Modern life is dynamic—law, science, rights evolve
Rational morality based on human dignity
Need for critical evaluation of tradition
Reform, not rejection of all customs
Progress demands moral courage
🟦 2. Indian Civilisational, Social & Reformist Seeds 🇮🇳
Manusmriti vs Constitutional morality
Social evils:
- Caste discrimination
- Untouchability
- Child marriage
- Sati
Reformers:
- Raja Ram Mohan Roy
- Jyotiba Phule
- Ambedkar
Ambedkar:
- Constitutional morality over social morality
Indian Constitution as moral rupture from custom
Modern India rooted in reform, not blind tradition
🟥 3. Global Philosophical & Ethical Seeds 🌍
John Stuart Mill:
- Liberty over custom
Kant:
- Reason as moral guide
Enlightenment:
- Morality based on rationality
Rousseau:
- Social contract replaces tradition
Tradition evolves, ethics universalise
Customary morality resists innovation
🟩 4. Governance, Law & GS Seeds 🏛️
Human rights universalism
Gender justice reforms
Judicial activism vs tradition
Same-sex relationships and privacy
Science challenging superstition
Plural societies need shared ethical framework
Custom vs Constitution debates in courts
🟪 5. Quick UPSC Revision Seeds 📌
Custom explains past, not future
Morality must be reasoned
Tradition needs scrutiny
Dignity above conformity
Reform sustains civilisation
🌳 ESSAY TREE — UPSC STRUCTURE MAP
I. Introduction
The tension between tradition and modernity.
II. What is Customary Morality?
Origins and role.
III. Why It Fails Modern Life
Inequality, rigidity.
IV. Indian Social Experience
Reforms and constitutional values.
V. Global Ethical Thought
Reason over tradition.
VI. Law as Moral Catalyst
Courts and rights.
VII. Where Custom Still Matters
Cultural continuity vs ethics.
VIII. Harmonising Past and Present
Reformative approach.
IX. Contemporary Challenges
Technology, diversity, rights.
X. Conclusion
Reasoned morality for modern life.
🟦 IAS MAINS 2018 — ESSAY–4
“Customary morality cannot be a guide to modern life.”
Introduction
Societies inherit customs before they develop reasoned ethics. Traditions, rituals, and social norms once provided moral order when formal laws and scientific reasoning were absent. However, as societies evolve—through education, constitutional governance, scientific progress, and human rights discourse—morality must undergo critical reassessment. The proposition that customary morality cannot be a guide to modern life highlights the tension between inherited norms and rational, universal ethics required for a plural, democratic, and dynamic society.
Understanding Customary Morality
Customary morality refers to norms and practices accepted simply because “they have always been so.” Such morality is sustained by social pressure rather than ethical reasoning. While customs offer continuity and identity, they often resist questioning and reform.
Customs emerge in specific historical contexts. When contexts change—socially, scientifically, and politically—unchanged customs risk becoming oppressive rather than protective.
Why Customary Morality Fails Modern Life
Customary morality struggles to guide modern life because it is inherently rigid. Modern societies value equality, dignity, autonomy, and justice—principles that demand rational justification beyond tradition.
Many historical customs legitimised inequality:
- Caste hierarchies normalised exclusion
- Patriarchal norms restricted women’s agency
- Practices like sati or child marriage were socially sanctioned
These customs were once “moral” by tradition, yet deeply immoral by reason and human dignity.
Morality grounded in habit rather than ethics cannot adapt to expanding understanding of rights.
Indian Social Reform Experience
India’s journey to modernity illustrates this inadequacy of custom. Social evils entrenched by tradition were challenged only through reformist critique and moral courage. Leaders like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Jyotiba Phule, and Ambedkar rejected blind adherence to custom in favour of justice and equality.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s insistence on constitutional morality marked a decisive break from inherited social morality. He argued that democracy cannot survive merely by social habits—it must rest on commitment to justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity.
The Constitution thus became a moral document, consciously correcting historical wrongs sanctioned by custom.
Global Ethical Thought and Modernity
Philosophical traditions across the world support the primacy of reason over tradition. The Enlightenment emphasised rational ethics. Kant argued that moral principles must be universally applicable, not culturally contingent. John Stuart Mill defended individual liberty against oppressive customs.
Modern ethics relies on justification, not inheritance. A practice becomes moral not because it is traditional, but because it respects dignity and freedom.
Role of Law and Judiciary
Law often functions as a catalyst for moral reform. Judicial interventions on issues such as gender justice, privacy, and sexual orientation demonstrate how constitutional values challenge customary norms.
Courts have repeatedly affirmed that tradition cannot override fundamental rights. This reflects a broader truth: legality based on reasoned morality must prevail over unexamined tradition.
Where Custom Still Matters
Rejecting customary morality does not imply rejecting all traditions. Customs that embody compassion, solidarity, and social harmony can enrich modern life. Culture provides identity and continuity.
The challenge lies in distinguishing between cultural expression and moral justification. Customs must evolve, aligning with ethical reason rather than fossilising injustice.
Modern Challenges and Moral Reasoning
Technology, science, and social diversity pose ethical questions unknown to traditional customs—artificial intelligence, biotechnology, digital privacy, and environmental responsibility. These issues demand moral reasoning based on evidence, debate, and universal principles, not precedent.
Plural societies particularly require shared ethical frameworks transcending community-specific customs.
Conclusion
Customary morality may explain the past, but it cannot govern the present. Modern life demands ethics grounded in reason, human dignity, and constitutional values. Traditions must remain open to scrutiny, reform, and renewal.
A society that clings to outdated customs risks injustice disguised as morality. A society that subjects tradition to ethical reasoning preserves cultural richness while advancing human freedom. Thus, modern morality must be reasoned—not inherited.
🟨 SPIN-OFF ESSAY
Beyond Tradition: Why Custom Alone Cannot Anchor Modern Morality
Traditions provide societies with continuity, identity, and a sense of belonging. Yet history also shows that customs, when elevated above reason, can legitimise injustice. The assertion that customary morality cannot be a guide to modern life reflects a crucial ethical insight: morality rooted solely in habit lacks the flexibility, universality, and critical depth required in contemporary societies shaped by diversity, democracy, and scientific reasoning.
The Nature and Limits of Customary Morality
Customary morality emerges organically over time. It regulates behaviour through social acceptance, not moral reasoning. Customs endure because they are familiar, not necessarily because they are just. In stable, homogenous societies, such norms once ensured order. However, in modern contexts marked by mobility, pluralism, and rights-based governance, unquestioned norms often fail to address new realities.
Customary morality resists change precisely because it is inherited, not evaluated.
Tradition Versus Ethical Reasoning
Ethics in modern life requires justification. Practices must be defensible through reason, empathy, and evidence. Custom lacks this reflective capability. A practice may be traditional and yet violate dignity.
Historical examples abound—patriarchal inheritance, caste exclusion, communal segregation, and denial of education to women were all morally justified by custom. Reform occurred only when ethical reasoning challenged tradition.
Reason distinguishes morality from mere conformity.
The Indian Reform Experience
India’s social transformation demonstrates this truth vividly. Customs such as untouchability, child marriage, and rigid gender roles persisted through moral inertia. Reformers confronted them using reason, empathy, and universal values.
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s doctrine of constitutional morality placed ethical reason above social habit. The Constitution intentionally ruptured with past injustices, asserting that rights derive from dignity, not tradition. Law thus became a vehicle for moral modernisation.
Global Philosophical Support
The Enlightenment rejected the authority of custom in moral reasoning. Kant insisted that moral rules must apply universally; Mill defended individual liberty against oppressive traditions. Modern human rights discourse rests on this universality.
Tradition explains origin; ethics evaluates legitimacy.
Modern Complexity Demands Moral Adaptability
Contemporary society faces challenges unknown to the past—digital surveillance, artificial intelligence, environmental collapse, bioethics. Customary morality offers little guidance here. These issues demand principles grounded in human welfare, consent, evidence, and global cooperation.
Plural societies also require shared moral standards capable of transcending community-specific norms. Otherwise, custom becomes a tool of exclusion.
Retaining Culture Without Morality’s Stagnation
Rejecting customary morality does not mandate rejecting culture. Customs that foster empathy, solidarity, and care retain relevance. Culture enriches life, but morality must regulate power.
Critical engagement allows societies to preserve identity while reforming injustice. Tradition survives best when it evolves ethically.
Conclusion
Customary morality, left unquestioned, cannot guide modern life. Morality today must be reasoned, inclusive, and adaptable—rooted in dignity rather than inheritance. The test of a moral system is not its antiquity, but its humanity.
A modern society honours tradition by scrutinising it, not by obeying it blindly.
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