ABOUT THIS BOOK

A great challenge of the twenty-first century is the danger of conflict between persons, peoples, and cultures, among and within societies. In A Common Human Ground, Claes Ryn explores the nature of this problem and sets forth a theory about what is necessary for peaceful relations to be possible.

Many in the Western world trust in “democracy,” “capitalism,” “liberal tolerance,” “scientific progress,” or “general enlightenment” to handle this problem. Although each of these, properly defined, may contribute toward alleviating disputes, Ryn argues that the problem is much more complex and demanding than is usually recognized. He reasons that, most fundamentally, good relations among individuals and nations have moral and cultural preconditions.

What can predispose them to mutual respect and peace? One Western philosophical tradition, for which Plato set the pattern, maintains that the only way to genuine unity is for historical diversity to yield to universality. The implication of this view for a multicultural world would be a peace that requires that cultural distinctiveness be effaced as far as possible and replaced with a universal culture. A very different Western philosophical tradition denies the existence of universality altogether. It is represented today by postmodernist multiculturalism—a view that leaves unanswered the question as to how conflict between diverse groups might be averted.

Ryn questions both of these traditions, arguing for the potential union of universality and particularity. He contends that the two need not be enemies, but in fact need each other. Cultivating individual and national particularities is potentially compatible with strengthening and enriching our common humanity. This volume embraces the notion of universality, while at the same time historicizing it.

Using wide-ranging examples, Ryn presents a firmly sustained and systematic argument centering on this central issue. His approach is interdisciplinary, discussing not only political ideas, but also fiction, drama, and other arts. Scholarly and philosophical, but not specialized, this book will appeal to general readers as well as intellectuals.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Claes G. Ryn is Professor of Politics at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He has also taught at the University of Virginia and Georgetown University, and he gave the “Distinguished Foreign Scholar” lectures at Beijing University in 2000. Ryn is the author or editor of several books, including Will, Imagination, and Reason: Babbitt, Croce, and the Problem of Reality.

REVIEWS

"Ryn's greatest strength is his ability to assimilate the phenomena of current cultural and political life into meaningful patterns of intellectual history and then to detect and expose fashionable and destructive deviations from the Western tradition. His larger purpose is to preserve and perpetuate that tradition amidst inevitable change—a mission he pursues with poise, insight, and catholic spirit."—Chronicles

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents
Preface   00
Acknowledgments  00
Introduction  00
Chapter One
Peace as the Union of Universality and Particularity  00
Chapter Two
Moral and Cultural Preconditions of Harmony  00
Chapter Three
A Cosmopolitan Basis for Peace  00
Chapter Four
The Living Past  00
Chapter Five
A Common Ethical Center  00
Chapter Six
Dubious Conceptions of Unity  00
Chapter Seven
The Attack on History  00
Chapter Eight
Value-Centered Historicism  00
Chapter Nine
The Concrete as Normative  00
Chapter Ten
The Unique Expression of the Universal  00
Appendix  00
Index  00
 

Library of Congress Subject Headings for this publication: Philosophical anthropology, Universals (Philosophy)Ethnic relations

REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE

If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you with an electronic file for alternative access.

Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.

It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.