Candles in the Dark: A New Spirit for a Plural World

by Barbara Sundberg Baudot, Václav Havel

Overview

Candles in the Dark is an international compendium of essays that share a sense of the importance of introducing ethical and spiritual concepts and values into the public discourse on progress and globalization issues. They offer a new approach to international relations and public policy that esteems the human spirit and dignity as central values in decision making, seeks links between self interest and the common good, and introduces, in a practical way, philosophical, spiritual, and cultural perspectives in the political discourse on global political and socioeconomic problems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780295982922
Publisher:	University of Washington Press
Publication date:	10/01/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	400
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Barbara Sundberg Baudot is a professor of politics at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire; she has served in many capacities in the United Nations. The contributors represent a wide spectrum of scholarship, practical experience, and cultural histories, faiths, and philosophies, and include professors in various disciplines as well as practitioners in politics, public policy, diplomacy, development, and international business.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Notes on Contributors

Message from the Secretary General of the United Nations

Foreword

A NEW SPIRIT FOR A PLURAL WORLD

Introduction

PART ONE: THE NEED FOR A POLITICAL RENAISSANCE

Global Ethics in a Plural World

Secularism, Globalization, and the Role of the State: A Plea for Renewal

Rethinking the "Four Freedoms" for the Global Community

What Can Be Wrong with Growth?

PART TWO: PERSPECTIVES FROM RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS

Benedictine Spirituality: A Basis for Reevaluating Modern Development Trends

Confucian Humanism and the Western Enlightenment

Essence and Continuity of Life in the African Society

Return of the "Native"

Unity Between the Values of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty

PART THREE: INSIGHTS FROM ART, LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE

Towards Noosphere

Progress: A Tale of Galoshes of Fortune and of a Shoe that Fits

Philosophical Reflection on the Path of Art

The Dynamic Now - A Poet's Counsel

PART FOUR: VALUES FOR A GLOBAL SOCIETY

The Moral Power of the United Nations

Development Reflecting Human Values

Language and the Human Spirit

Values and Leadership in Managing High Performance Financial Firms

Principles in the Practice of Diplomacy: A Personal Experience in International Affairs

Ethics in Diplomacy: Crises of Conscience and Self-Interest

Epilogue

What People are Saying About This

John Kenneth Galbraith

"From the most favored and the lesser favored countries of the world and those people who tell of the common task of peace and well—being comes this wonderfully persuasive guide to a better life for all."

Editorial Reviews

The great challenge facing us at the start of this millennium is to ensure that globalizaiton becomes a force that benefits all people, not a windfall that rewards only the privileged few. . . . It is my hope that this publication will serve as a source of inspiration to our efforts.

Kofi A. Annan

From the most favored and the lesser favored countries of the world and those people who tell of the common task of peace and well-being comes this wonderfully persuasive guide to a better life for all.

John Kenneth Galbraith