Gagan Prathap
Gangan Prathap, Scholar at Large, Kerala State Higher Education Council.
Trained as an Aerospace Engineer, and worked at National Aerospace Laboratories in Bengaluru (1978-2000), specializing in Computational Mechanics. Subsequently, from 2000 to 2015, he held leadership positions at various CSIR institutions and two universities in Kerala. Since 2000, he has concentrated attention on Computational Social Science.
A Conceptual Note on the Geometry of Moral Space
1. The Analogy with Space-Time
The physical universe is intelligible because it has structure. It can be described by coordinates—three in space and one in time—that together specify the position and evolution of every event. These dimensions are not arbitrary: remove one, and the universe collapses into an abstraction without motion or meaning. The same may be true of the moral universe. Human conduct, judgment, and aspiration, too, unfold within an underlying order. One may speculate that this moral universe requires three orthogonal dimensions: Reason, Faith, and Fairness.
2. Reason: The Cognitive Axis
Reason is the dimension along which morality attains coherence. It gives moral life its structure—the capacity to generalize, to deduce, and to hold action accountable to principle. Through reason we test the consistency of means with ends, of intentions with outcomes. Kant’s categorical imperative—that one should act only on maxims that could be universal laws—is a quintessential projection along this axis. Without reason, morality degenerates into impulse or imitation; with it, moral thought acquires the stability of logic. Yet reason alone is insufficient. It can design rules but not purposes; it can calculate consequences but not commitments. It can justify how we act, but not why we care.
3. Faith: The Transcendent Axis
Faith introduces the dimension of depth. It is not blind belief but the orientation of the moral will toward something larger than self-interest or immediate verification. It gives moral life its energy, meaning, and continuity. Whether expressed as religious devotion, trust in human dignity, or confidence in the eventual triumph of truth, faith extends morality beyond the calculable. It anchors value in a horizon that reason can approach but never exhaust. However, faith without reason can descend into fanaticism, and faith without fairness can sanction injustice. Its power is generative only when balanced by the other two axes.
4. Fairness: The Relational Axis
Fairness defines the geometry of coexistence. It is the moral expression of symmetry—the recognition that one’s claim to dignity or well-being is mirrored in others. It is the principle that converts self-regarding reason and transcendent faith into social equilibrium. Fairness is not mere equality but proportionality: the art of balance in relationships, institutions, and distributions. Where reason provides consistency and faith provides direction, fairness provides balance. Without it, moral life becomes self-centred or sectarian, unable to sustain collective harmony.
5. The Orthogonality of the Moral Axes
The independence of these three dimensions is crucial. Reason cannot ensure fairness; logical procedures can yield unjust results if their premises are biased. Faith cannot ensure fairness; devotion can inspire compassion or cruelty depending on its object. Reason cannot replace faith; proof cannot substitute for meaning. Each axis represents a distinct and irreducible principle. Their orthogonality ensures that moral understanding has full dimensionality—that no single faculty can span the whole moral field. Yet, as in physics, orthogonality does not mean disconnection. These axes intersect at a common origin: the human conscience. It is this shared origin that gives each axis moral orientation and the capacity for synthesis.
6. Moral Vectors and Resultant Direction
Every moral action can be imagined as a vector in this three-dimensional space. Its projection on the axis of reason measures its rational justification; on the axis of faith, its depth of conviction; and on the axis of fairness, its relational balance. A fully realised moral act, therefore, is not aligned exclusively along any single axis but combines components from all three. Just as the resultant vector in physical space represents both magnitude and direction, the resultant moral vector represents both intensity and orientation of the good.
7. The Temporal Dimension: Memory
In the physical universe, space becomes intelligible through time. In the moral universe, the analogue of time may be memory—the capacity to remember consequences, to learn from error, to sustain continuity of conscience. Without memory, reason loses history, faith loses endurance, and fairness loses context. Moral time flows through the stories we tell, the institutions we build, and the responsibilities we inherit.
8. Toward a Moral Cosmology
The moral universe, then, is not a flat field of virtues but a structured space of independent yet interdependent coordinates. Reason gives it intelligibility, faith gives it meaning, and fairness gives it harmony. To navigate this universe wisely is to maintain orthogonality without isolation—to reason without arrogance, to believe without blindness, and to balance without compromise. In this sense, morality, like physics, is a geometry of relationships. Its perfection lies not in any single direction but in the dynamic equilibrium of its three orthogonal axes—the cognitive, the transcendent, and the relational—held together by the enduring memory of the human spirit.
