The document discusses the philosophy and principles of cooperatives. It states that cooperatives are organizations formed by individuals coming together voluntarily to meet common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled business. The philosophy is based on self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity. Cooperative values guide cooperators' thinking and actions, while cooperative principles provide guidelines for putting values into practice.

1. Philosophy
of Cooperatives

2. The term 'co-operate' means "to
work or act together"; "to be of
Assistance or be willing to assist. The
theory underlying co-operation is that
weak individuals are enabled to
improve their individual productive
capacity and consequently their
moral and material position by
combining among themselves and
bringing into this combination a
moral effort and a progressively
developing realization of moral
obligation.

3. Co-operation is rooted in a common
recognition by the participants of the
desirability of improving their condition and
general agreement among them as to how that
improvement can best be effected. The
principle of co-operation is as old as human
society; it is the basis of domestic and social
life. Any co-operation effort is ultimately the
group instinct in man, which enables him to
live together, work together and help each
other in times of stress and strain.

4. • Co-operation is an
organization of individuals,
who get together in a
Participatory process, to
meet common needs.
• They are based on the
powerful idea that together, a
group of people can achieve
goals that none of them
could achieve alone.
• Cooperatives are formed to
meet peoples’ mutual needs.

5. The values, which are articulated by the ICA in a
statement in 1995. The values statement further
articulates values of personal and ethical behavior that
cooperators actualize in enterprises. They describe the
kind of people cooperators strive to be and
the traits they hope to encourage through
cooperation.

6. Cooperatives are based on basic
values and principles. Cooperative values
are general norms that cooperators,
cooperative leaders and cooperative staff
should share and which should determine
their way of thinking and acting.

7. Cooperative principles on the other hand, are
guidelines by which cooperatives put their values
into practice. The principles rest on a distinct
philosophy and view of society that helps members
judge their accomplishments and make decisions

8. Reference:
1. Co-operation: Genesis and Growth, Philosophy and Principles
http://lib.unipune.ac.in:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/7145/08_chapter%201.pdf?sequence=8&isAllowed=y
2. Origin, Philosophy and concepts of Co-ops
https://www.slideshare.net/coopjbb1/origin-philosophyandconcepts-of-coops