In Search Of Humanity

This collection of essays, offered in honor of the distinguished career of prominent political philosophy professor Clifford Orwin, provides a wide context in which to consider the rise of “humanity” as one of the chief modern virtues. A relative of—and also a replacement for—formerly more prominent other-regarding virtues like justice and generosity, humanity and later compassion become the true north of the modern moral compass. Contributors to this volume consider various aspects of this virtue, by comparison with what came before and with attention to its development from early to late modernity, and up to the present.

Faisal Devji argues that new forms of militancy, such as the actions of al-Qaeda, are informed by the same desire for agency and equality that animates other humanitarian interventions, such as environmentalism and pacifism. To the militant, victimized Muslims are more than just symbols of ethnic and religious persecution-they represent humanity's centuries-long struggle for legitimacy and agency. Acts of terror, therefore, are fueled by the militant's desire to become a historical actor on the global stage. Though they have yet to build concrete political institutions, militant movements have formed a kind of global society, and as Devji makes clear, this society pursues the same humanitarian objectives that drive more benevolent groups.

A critical examination of the human condition and artistic responsibility through the eyes of Ai Weiwei. Internationally renowned for his multimedia work as an artist-activist, Ai Weiwei has become one of the foremost political artists today. Ai Weiwei: In Search of Humanity offers the reader an in-depth examination of the aspect of humanity and artistic responsibility in Ai Weiwei's work. The catalog includes key works from all phases of the artist's career, focusing on works that shed light on themes that have long compelled him: surveillance, censorship, human rights, freedom of expression, the global refugee crisis, radical responsibility, the power of beauty, and the truth of poetry. Guided by these concerns, it offers new perspectives to understand the relevance of Ai Weiwei's artistic language. It encompasses a wide range of art historical paradigms (such as the readymade) alongside more radical activist strategies, all aimed at exploring the extremes of the contemporary human condition on a global scale.

Writings on human life and the refugee crisis by the most important political artist of our time Ai Weiwei (b. 1957) is widely known as an artist across media: sculpture, installation, photography, performance, and architecture. He is also one of the world's most important artist-activists and a powerful documentary filmmaker. His work and art call attention to attacks on democracy and free speech, abuses of human rights, and human displacement--often on an epic, international scale. This collection of quotations demonstrates the range of Ai Weiwei's thinking on humanity and mass migration, issues that have occupied him for decades. Selected from articles, interviews, and conversations, Ai Weiwei's words speak to the profound urgency of the global refugee crisis, the resilience and vulnerability of the human condition, and the role of art in providing a voice for the voiceless. Select quotations from the book: "This problem has such a long history, a human history. We are all refugees somehow, somewhere, and at some moment." "Allowing borders to determine your thinking is incompatible with the modern era." "Art is about aesthetics, about morals, about our beliefs in humanity. Without that there is simply no art." "I don't care what all people think. My work belongs to the people who have no voice."

This book provides an examination of whether there is a legally independent 'principle of humanity' in international humanitarian law.

Summary In the Eyes of Anahita, tells the story of a corporate executives awakening during a two-week business trip in South America where he gets confronted with both extreme richness and blatant poverty. During a number of mystical encounters with women of different ages, all of whom have the same dark, mysterious eyes, he is given two questions which he must answer in order to return balance to todays polarized world Are human beings being human? Is a global society a social globe? As he ponders these questions, he has a spiritual experience that helps him to transcend the duality between good and evil and discover his truth. Not only does this allow him to develop a holistic model for conducting business, but it helps him to refocus his life and integrate his souls purpose in all that he does so that he ultimately finds inner peace, harmony and happiness.