Ontological Ethics deals with the definition of agathon (the good) in Aristotle as explained by
Heidegger in Plato's Sophist, pp.84-86, and Aristotle Metaphysics Bk 1, 982a30-983a11 and Nicomachian Ethics 1177b17-1178a8. Its basic thesis is Nietzsche's dictum, "Honesty is the only virtue."

Is the Truth deadly or liberating or, rather, both? If honesty amounts to being-in-the-world in conformity with (one’s perception of) the Real, would it not be permissible, even unavoidable, for the philosopher to ‘lie’ if that proved the only way for truth to be accommodated in and to the city? This has perhaps been the dilemma not only in the West, since Socrates, but also in India, thus resulting in modes of formulating ‘truth’ that thrive upon opposing readings: exoteric and esoteric.

Primarily devoted to Western philosophy – its central questions, how they were passed on and revisited by individual thinkers – in the larger context of culture, religion, and politics, we discuss ancient, medieval (also Muslim and Jewish), modern (insofar as they bring to light these esoteric maneuvers of the tradition), and post-modern philosophers of suspicion. Indian and Eastern thought are introduced to provide fresh perspectives on these questions, particularly (the roots of philosophical) esotericism (in non-rational experience).

We look at tradition respectfully but suspiciously. Our respect is so great that we don’t believe that what is obvious in or at the surface of a text exhausts its possibilities. Our suspicion will hopefully lead to more respect, for philosophy isn’t merely a matter of truth but of the good – this is the genesis of our great respect. But we have come to suspect that the true and the good are not in harmony – the genesis of our suspicion. How does the good relate to the true? In pursuit of this insight, we examine how philosophy interfaces with mysticism, anthropology, psychoanalysis and semiotics.