219 works selected for the 40 candidate questions. Selections approved by Ben Breen, 29 September 2026. Arguments are unverified. Quotations were chosen by machine and are unchecked.
1 of 219 works
1909GandhiGandhi,Hind Swaraj, or Indian Home RuleGujaratiTreatiseFull text
- Q17Does introducing labor-saving machinery improve workers' lives?
No. Machinery has impoverished India by destroying handicraft and has begun to desolate Europe; India should do without it.
- Q25Does relying on machinery for ordinary necessities reduce people's ability to provide for themselves?
Yes. Argues machinery has impoverished India by destroying hand industry and that Indians should reduce their use of mills and machines and return to hand-spinning and hand-weaving.
- Q32Is widespread use of machinery evidence that a society is more civilized?
No. Argues modern civilization, whose chief symbol is machinery, is an irreligious condition; true civilization is moral conduct, and India's ancestors chose not to pursue machinery.
- Q33Can a society adopt another society's machinery without adopting its ways of life?
No. Machinery is the chief sign of modern civilization and has impoverished India; India cannot take it up and remain itself.
- Q17Does introducing labor-saving machinery improve workers' lives?