A Common Human Ground: Universality and Particularity in a Multicultural World
by Claes G. Ryn
University of Missouri Press, 2019 Cloth: 978-0-8262-1494-2 | Paper: 978-0-8262-2203-9 | eISBN: 978-0-8262-6454-1 Library of Congress Classification BD450.R96 2003 Dewey Decimal Classification 303.482
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
The 21st century is rife with tensions and conflict among cultures, peoples, and persons. In this thought-provoking book, Claes G. Ryn explores the great danger of turbulence and war and propounds a strongly argued thesis about what can make peaceful relations possible.
Many trust in “democracy,” “capitalism,” “liberal tolerance,” scientific progress, or general enlightenment to create peace and order. Ryn contends that the problem is deeper and more complex than usually recognized and that peaceful, respectful relations have demanding moral and cultural prerequisites.
One Western philosophical tradition, for which Plato sets the pattern, maintains that unity can be achieved only if diversity gives way to universality. Diversity must yield to a homogenizing transcendent good. A very different Western tradition, represented today by post-modern multiculturalism, denies the existence of universality altogether and celebrates diversity, which leaves unanswered the question of what will avert conflict. Ryn questions both of these positions and argues that universality and particularity, unity and diversity, are potentially compatible. He advances the thesis that a certain way of cultivating what is distinctive to persons, peoples, and cultures can enrich and strengthen our common humanity and increase the likelihood of peace.
In A Common Human Ground, now with a new preface by the author, Ryn sets forth a philosophy of human interaction that he applies to foreign policy and international relations, notably the issue of war and peace. Philosophical but not technical, scholarly but not specialized, Ryn’s well-received work is interdisciplinary, ranging from politics to literature and the arts.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Claes G. Ryn is Professor of Politics and Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Statesmanship at the Catholic University of America. He has taught also at the University of Virginia and Georgetown University. He gave the Distinguished Foreign Scholar Lectures at Beijing University in 2000 and has visited China many times at the invitation of leading academic institutions, including the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He was named Honorary Professor at Beijing Normal University. His many books include, Democracy and the Ethical Life, America the Virtuous, and Will, Imagination and Reason.
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
"A major contribution to both political philosophy and international relations, A Common Human Ground provides profound reflections on international relations that can help midwife a less fragmented and conflict-ridden world."—Eric Adler, The Russell Kirk Center
“A Common Human Ground is essential reading for numerous reasons. Lacking any polemical traces or academic jargon, it lays out an approach to foreign affairs and human life that seems most likely to convince the skeptical. It is thus an especially valuable read for Ryn’s philosophical opponents. Some may simplistically dismiss conservative dovishness by presuming it ineluctably stems from selfish impulses encapsulated in the slogan “America First.” On the contrary, Ryn shows that such an outlook can spring from noble impulses to respect other nations and foment peace. A major contribution to both political philosophy and international relations, A Common Human Ground provides profound reflections on international relations that can help midwife a less fragmented and conflict-ridden world.”—The University Bookman
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
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Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
A Common Human Ground: Universality and Particularity in a Multicultural World
by Claes G. Ryn
University of Missouri Press, 2019 Cloth: 978-0-8262-1494-2 Paper: 978-0-8262-2203-9 eISBN: 978-0-8262-6454-1
The 21st century is rife with tensions and conflict among cultures, peoples, and persons. In this thought-provoking book, Claes G. Ryn explores the great danger of turbulence and war and propounds a strongly argued thesis about what can make peaceful relations possible.
Many trust in “democracy,” “capitalism,” “liberal tolerance,” scientific progress, or general enlightenment to create peace and order. Ryn contends that the problem is deeper and more complex than usually recognized and that peaceful, respectful relations have demanding moral and cultural prerequisites.
One Western philosophical tradition, for which Plato sets the pattern, maintains that unity can be achieved only if diversity gives way to universality. Diversity must yield to a homogenizing transcendent good. A very different Western tradition, represented today by post-modern multiculturalism, denies the existence of universality altogether and celebrates diversity, which leaves unanswered the question of what will avert conflict. Ryn questions both of these positions and argues that universality and particularity, unity and diversity, are potentially compatible. He advances the thesis that a certain way of cultivating what is distinctive to persons, peoples, and cultures can enrich and strengthen our common humanity and increase the likelihood of peace.
In A Common Human Ground, now with a new preface by the author, Ryn sets forth a philosophy of human interaction that he applies to foreign policy and international relations, notably the issue of war and peace. Philosophical but not technical, scholarly but not specialized, Ryn’s well-received work is interdisciplinary, ranging from politics to literature and the arts.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Claes G. Ryn is Professor of Politics and Founding Director of the Center for the Study of Statesmanship at the Catholic University of America. He has taught also at the University of Virginia and Georgetown University. He gave the Distinguished Foreign Scholar Lectures at Beijing University in 2000 and has visited China many times at the invitation of leading academic institutions, including the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. He was named Honorary Professor at Beijing Normal University. His many books include, Democracy and the Ethical Life, America the Virtuous, and Will, Imagination and Reason.
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
"A major contribution to both political philosophy and international relations, A Common Human Ground provides profound reflections on international relations that can help midwife a less fragmented and conflict-ridden world."—Eric Adler, The Russell Kirk Center
“A Common Human Ground is essential reading for numerous reasons. Lacking any polemical traces or academic jargon, it lays out an approach to foreign affairs and human life that seems most likely to convince the skeptical. It is thus an especially valuable read for Ryn’s philosophical opponents. Some may simplistically dismiss conservative dovishness by presuming it ineluctably stems from selfish impulses encapsulated in the slogan “America First.” On the contrary, Ryn shows that such an outlook can spring from noble impulses to respect other nations and foment peace. A major contribution to both political philosophy and international relations, A Common Human Ground provides profound reflections on international relations that can help midwife a less fragmented and conflict-ridden world.”—The University Bookman
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.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE