Bridges To Global Ethics

This book contributes to the current discussion on geoethics and global ethics within the geoscience and humanities communities. It provides new content and insights into developing convergent human actions in response to global anthropogenic changes, based on perspectives that make it possible to combine geoscience knowledge with humanities and social sciences approaches. Selected authors present their reflections, findings and insights regarding the vision of geoethics (ethics of responsibility towards the Earth) as global ethics from philosophical, humanities and social sciences perspectives. In addition, they discuss ethical frameworks from diverse cultural traditions, searching for points of intersection with geoethics. The goal: for global environmental problems to be managed via multi-perspective approaches that can more effectively accommodate complexity. Combining the strengths of the geosciences, humanities and social sciences can pave the way for a paradigm shift in how human societies develop adaptive, sustainable responses to environmental changes and societal inequalities.

What do the religions and ideologies of the world have in common? Why should we focus first on their similarities rather than their differences? What's next in the evolution of the global ethic?Professor and theologian Hans Küng has devoted much of his life to answering these questions.A controversial figure, Küng achieved global notoriety in the late 60's when he became the first major Roman Catholic theologian of the 20th century to question the notion of papal infallibility. For this, he was stripped of his license to teach as a Roman Catholic theologian, but carried on teaching as a tenured professor of Ecumenical Theology at the University of Tübingen, Germany until his retirement in 1996. In the 1990s, Küng initiated a project subsequently referred to the Movement for a "Global Ethic" ("Weltethos" in the original German). After massive world-wide research into past and present ethical principles carried out with the collaboration of many scholars, including Professor Leonard Swidler-who continues their joint work-he spelled out clearly the foundational ethical principles that the world's religions and ideologies, past and present, de facto held/hold in common, that is: The minimal code of behavior that everyone in fact accepts (e.g., "Do not lie, steal, kill innocent persons....") Kung's goal is to highlight how the great religions/ideologies of the world converge on moral values and how this has revealed minimal, but expanding standards: e.g., slavery once was, but no longer is ethically acceptable... equality for women is painfully on that expanding path now! This English translation of The Global Ethic Handbook is a culmination of the "Movement" Küng began in the 90s. In clear language, he describes his vision for a Global Ethic, and step by step he takes the reader on a journey through the essential aspects of a Global Ethic, including its social, political, legal, economics, communications, esthetics, and philosophical applications. It even describes his translation of the Global Ethic/Weltethos into musical compositions-indeed, a full-blown opera! While Engaging the Global Ethic is a broad and comprehensive work, the actualization of a Global Ethic is concrete-not abstract. Professor Küng's vision into the future, built on the expanding Global Ethic is an inspiring read and call to action for all!

This book evaluates strategies for managing ethical conflict. Macro-approaches that attribute select values to entire peoples and claim supremacy for these values are suspect. A micro-approach, focusing on the ethics of individual thinkers, is better. The study uses the ethics of Confucius and Tetsuro Watsuji to derive a process-based universal ethic that respects local differences yet is not relativistic.

As a fundamental institution of human societies, law is a deeply influential factor in individual and social activity. Yet its normative status is controversial, particularly in pluralistic, secularized societies. Is law essentially the result of legislative creation and juridical interpretation, or can and should it reflect ethical values and imperatives? If it can what are the sources of those imperatives, and how do they achieve the necessary degree of social consensus in religiously diverse societies that are increasingly globalized and globalizing as a consequence of culture, commerce, communication and immigration? The Global Ethic and Law: Intersections and Interactions contributes to the consideration of these questions. Its contributors include academics from the U.S.A. and Europe, as well Hans Kueng, the author of the 1993 “Declaration Towards a Global Ethic” adopted by the Parliament of World Religions and Stephan Schlensog, General Secretary of the Global Ethic Foundation of Tuebingen, Germany.

The Practices of Global Ethics takes a unique look at global ethics: not as mere written statements but as a set of practices undertaken by thousands of organisations and hundreds of thousands of people to shape the normative trajectory of human affairs. It looks at statements of global ethical principles including The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Earth Charter and the Rio Documents and positions them as the outcomes and expression of ongoing practices. Offering innovative, critical and thoughtful analyses of ethical practices since World War II, the book examines efforts to promote human rights; foster ecological responsibility; end genocide; reduce global poverty; encourage responsible and sustainable international business practices; cultivate understanding and collaboration amongst the world's religions among other worldwide endeavours.

This volume addresses three fundamental questions about the interplay between the ethics of globality and spirituality: What are the practical implications of spirituality for the condition of life in a turbulent era of violent religious/non-religious extremism? In what way can spirituality, the view of love, compassion, tolerance, and mutual recognition encounter mistrust, enmity, separateness, and violence? How, and in what way, can spirituality contribute to the newly emerging global ethics? Religious scholars distinguish between the esoteric and exoteric sides of belief systems. Esotericism centres on the inner awareness, and conceals a certain spirituality that is only transmittable to those who could successfully pass through a process of initiatic preparation and transpersonal practices to understand the mystical dimensions of existence. In contrast, exotericism takes the outer dimension of every day consciousness into account and favours the possibility of the popular understanding of the essence of existence. In this perspective, truth could be grasped by the public without the need of any transpersonal initiative and transformation of consciousness. Esotericism extends beyond religion and has become the spiritual philosophy of life without the need of being essentially religious. It has become common, notably in the West, to identify oneself as spiritualist without having religious affiliations. The condition of globality has provided an unprecedented opportunity for spiritual perspectives to grow. Ideas, perspectives, beliefs, and philosophies of life are growing outside local/national containers to express themselves in different global settings, while the forces of globalisation are influencing local identities and cultures. While evolving global transformations strengthen people’s capability to leave institutionally ordered belief systems, it simultaneously enables them to rearrange themselves around alternative perspectives. These fundamental transformations cultivate a fabulous landscape for the growth of spirituality.

This book provides a comprehensive understanding of the linkages between business and society by addressing key issues in corporate social responsibility (CSR), sustainability, ethics and governance. Thanks to the different visions and perspectives offered by a global group of authors with a broad range of expertise, the book offers a full spectrum of theoretical and practical approaches. Further, it combines the latest theoretical thinking with reviews of frameworks, cases and best practices from various industries and nations. In particular, the book offers a historical perspective on the origins of CSR and discusses CSR in relation to sustainability and management, with a special focus on CSR in Asia.

Presenting new developments in the field of global ethics, this volume focuses specifically on how to re-conceive ethics in order to come to grips with ethical and political life today. It sets out an agenda for the field of global ethics, addresses the critiques and illustrates the rapprochement of global ethics.