INTRODUCING THE STUDY

1.1 RESEARCH ISSUES AND AIMS

The research problem, The Ethics of Personhood Contextualizing Casteism

in Tamilnadu Church' is located from the context of the prevalence of Casteism in

Tamilnadu Church and the imperative to respond to this problem ethically from

conceptual foundations of both philosophy and Christian ethical dispositions. Given

to the presence of Tamilnadu Church for several centuries, with the native castecultural

context, seems to have culturally incorporated which is otherwise is

antithetical to philosophical and ethical claims of personhood. The cultural context

social discrimination given to its various typologies prevalent in Tamilnadu Church

alternatively implores the need for implores an ethics of personhood. This demands a

systematic study of

(i) The existentiality of caste discrimination

(ii) And the need towards the exploration of the ethics of personhood both from

philosophical and Christian religious ethos.

The unethical existentiality of Casteism is but the denial of human

personhood and human personhood can be emphasized from philosophical writings

and critical thinkers such as Ambedkar from Indian Context and Emmanuel Levinas

from western context and all the more from the very doctrinal foundations of

universal Christian church. Hence the research will bring together the study of the

problem of Casteism in Tamilnadu church vis-à-vis the ethical concept of personhood

embedded in philosophy and church documents.

Accordingly the research aims at the:

(i) Study Casteism in Tamilnadu Church as the context to critically evaluate the

ethics of Personhood.

(ii) Exploration of the critique of Ambedkar regarding Casteism in Christianity.

(iii) Concept of Personhood from philosophical and ethical perspectives.

(iv) Derivation an ethic of personhood from Christian doctrinal positions.