Purity of means
Topic: Political Theory: Freedom and Rights · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Purity of means is Gandhi's principle that ends and means cannot be separated. In Hind Swaraj (1909), he wrote that the means are like a seed and the end is like the tree that grows from it. So if the means are violent or unjust, they spoil even a good goal. This is the moral base of satyagraha and non-violence.
Example
Gandhi withdrew the Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22) after a mob turned violent at Chauri Chaura. He would not let freedom be won by violent means.
Don't confuse with
- "The end justifies the means": this is the opposite view, that a good goal makes any method acceptable.
- Utilitarianism: it judges an act only by its results, the greatest happiness of the greatest number. Gandhi judged the method itself.