Connecting Modernities

Editors’ introductory chapter delineates common threads among the volume’s cross-disciplinary contributions and connects these to the history of research on modernity as well as the most compelling issues confronting us today. The introduction discusses how the pandemic carries on the possibility (threat?) of a tabula rasa condition, a civilizational detour based on a foundation of global awareness of nature and society. The authors support the need for global problem-solving strategies, new global ethics, and a global resource management paradigm solidly cognizant of the commons and redistribution. The introduction explores the main hiatuses in today’s modernity and provides an update to the necessary assertion of a global modernity in the midst of political, ecological, and health crises.

“Semantic Primitives”, fifty years later

Are there any concepts that all human beings share? Three hundred years ago Leibniz was convinced that there are indeed such concepts and that they can be identified by trial and error. He called this hypothetical set the alphabet of human thoughts. Gradually, however, the idea faded from philosophical discourse and eventually it was largely forgotten. It was revived in the early 1960s by the Polish linguist Andrzej Bogusławski. A few years later it was taken up in my own work and in 1972 in my book Semantic Primitives a first hypothetical set of universal semantic primitives was actually proposed. It included 14 elements. Following my emigration to Australia more and more linguists joined the testing of the proposed set against an increasing range of languages and domains. As a result, from mid 1980s the set steadily grew. The expansion stopped in 2014, when the number stabilised at 65, and when Cliff Goddard and I reached the conclusion that this is the full set. This paper reviews the developments which have taken place over the last 50 years. It reaffirms our belief that we have identified, in full, the shared alphabet of human thoughts. It also examines the recurring claim that one of these primes, HAVE PARTS, is not universal. Further, the paper argues that there is not only a shared alphabet of human thoughts but a shared mental language, Basic Human, with a specifiable vocabulary and grammar. It points out that the stakes are high, because what is at issue is not only the psychic unity of humankind (Boas 1911) but also the possibility of a universal human community of communication (Apel 1972). The paper contends that Basic Human can provide a secure basis for a non-Anglocentric global discourse about questions that concern us all, such as global ethics, the earth and its future, and the health and well-being of all people on earth.

Intercultural dialogues in times of global pandemics: The Confucian ethics of relations and social organization in Sinic societies

Since COVID-19 is a global-scale pandemic, it can only be solved on the global level. In this context, intercultural dialogues are of utmost importance. Indeed, different models of traditional ethics might be of assistance in constructing a new, global ethics that could help us confront the present predicament and prepare for other possible global crises that might await us in the future. The explosive, pandemic spread of COVID-19 in 2020 clearly demonstrated that in general, one of the most effective tools for containment of the epidemics is precisely human and interpersonal solidarity, which must also be accompanied by a certain degree of autonomous self-discipline. The present paper follows the presumption that these types of personal and interpersonal attitudes are—inter alia— culturally conditioned and hence influenced by different traditional models of social ethics. In light of the fact that East-Asian or Sinic societies were more successful and effective in the process of containing and eliminating the virus compared to the strategies of the Euro-American regions, I will first question the widespread assumption that this effectiveness is linked to the authoritarian political traditions of the Sinic East and Southeast Asian areas. Then, I will critically introduce the Confucian ethics of relations, which in various ways has influenced the social structures of these regions, and clarify the question of whether and in which way the relics of this ethics had an actual effect on the crisis resolution measurements. The crucial aim of this paper is to contribute to the construction of theoretical groundworks for a new, transculturally grounded global ethics, which is more needed today than ever before.

Ethics with an economic method: A new perspective on business ethics

Purpose: The purpose of this article was to review the book of Christoph Lütge and Matthias Uhl (2021) entitled Business ethics. An economically informed perspective (Oxford University Press).Design/methodology/approach: The approach followed is to give an overview of the book’s content, appraise the positive contribution followed by some critical questions for further discussions.Findings/results: The key finding is that the book, indeed, contributes to establish ethics with an economic method as a novel approach.Practical implications: Practical implications are found in both the approach to global ethics and especially to risk management design.Originality/value: The value of the book lies in its use as a handbook at a graduate level and as a guide to managers to implement corporate-level ethics.

Menciptakan Suasana Perjumpaan Antar-Agama: Refleksi Filosofis Etika Global Hans Küng

Indonesia faces the problem of differences for many year ago until now. Even though, Pancasila symbolizes the unity but mostly in religious relationship have a cliff between ''us’’ and ‘’them’’ for many reasons recently. Another problem emerges in area of Religious pluralism, makes the situation more difficult. The reality of religious diversity is isolated by misleading and shallow interpretations. The space for dialogue is insulated by religious formalism and theological claims of truth. The dialogue of agreement, both inclusivism and pluralism, has not been able to knit religious plurality. Traditions, symbols, rituals, ethical dimensions and universal core in religious dialogue as a precondition do not find space. In this context, the author is trying to offer the idea of "Global Ethics" by Hans Küng as a new understanding of religious dialogue. === Indonesia menghadapi masalah perbedaan selama bertahun-tahun yang lalu hingga sekarang. Meskipun Pancasila melambangkan persatuan, tetapi sebagian besar dalam hubungan agama memiliki jurang antara '' kami 'dan' mereka 'karena banyak alasan baru-baru ini. Masalah lain muncul di bidang pluralisme agama, membuat situasi lebih sulit. Realitas keragaman agama diisolasi dengan interpretasi yang menyesatkan dan dangkal. Ruang untuk dialog terisolasi oleh formalisme agama dan klaim kebenaran teologis. Dialog kesepakatan, baik inklusivisme dan pluralisme, belum mampu merajut pluralitas agama. Tradisi, simbol, ritual, dimensi etis, dan inti universal dalam dialog keagamaan sebagai prasyarat tidak menemukan ruang. Dalam konteks ini, penulis menawarkan ide "Global Ethics" oleh Hans Küng sebagai pemahaman baru tentang dialog agama.

Geoethics to Start Up a Pedagogical and Political Path towards Future Sustainable Societies

The development of geoethics is at a turning point. After having strengthened its theoretical structure and launched new initiatives aimed at favouring the spread of geoethical thinking, geoethics must deal with some issues concerning the social organization of dominant cultures, the existing economic structures, and the political systems that govern the world. Nowadays geoethics must move towards the construction of a pedagogical proposal, which has a formative purpose, for future generations and the policy leaders, but also a political one, in the noble sense of the term, that is, concerning the action of citizens who take part in public life. The pedagogical and political project of geoethics will have to be founded on the principles of dignity, freedom, and responsibility on which to ground a set of values for global ethics in order to face planetary anthropogenic changes. Furthermore, this project must be inclusive, participatory, and proactive, without falling into simplistic criticism of the current interpretative and operational paradigms of the world, but always maintaining realism (therefore adherence to the reality of the observed facts) and a critical attitude towards the positive and negative aspects of any organizational socio-economic system of human communities. In our vision there can be no sustainability, adaptation, or transition in human systems that do not pass through an ethical regeneration of the human beings, who are aware of their inborn anthropocentric and anthropogenic perception/position and assume responsibility for the consequences of their actions impacting the Earth system. In fact, the ecological crisis is the effect of the crisis of humans who have moved away from their intimate human nature. Through this paper we want to enlarge disciplinary areas that should be investigated and discussed through the lens of geoethical thinking and propose geoethics for an ethical renewal of societies, making them more sustainable from a social, economic, and environmental perspectives.

Trafficking in Human Beings in the Context of Global Ethics

The concept of “Global Ethics” refers to the analysis and identification of ethical solutions to the challenges of the contemporary world. Among the current global problems we bring to the fore: illegal immigration as a component of human trafficking, but also other global issues interdependent with the two crimes above: violation of human rights and freedoms, poverty, resource scarcity, discrimination, illegal international business and trade, all of which, requesting from the authorities and beyond, legislative and ethical solutions. Legal migration is the widely accepted form globally, since it can be determined over time, but also controlled in terms of the number of people, fields and jobs. Illegal migration is the alternative used by people who cannot use the legal route to go abroad. A component of trafficking in human beings, illegal migration is a global scourge, hard to control, caused by organised criminal groups, but also by the increasing ingenuity of criminals. Although the phenomenon is manifesting itself worldwide, it is accentuated by the fact that there is a lack of appropriate legislation and an effective system of cooperation between government institutions and civil society.Trafficking in human beings must be related to the causes that led to its emergence: discrimination in the labour market revealed by high unemployment rates (women vs. men), poverty combined with low remuneration for work performed, corruption of authorities, poor border control, restriction of legal migration opportunities, internationalization of criminal groups correlated with high profits from human trafficking, poor information of people who want to emigrate about the real effects of the labour market. Knowing this phenomenon, but also of the causes that cause it to occur, determines the process of working for knowledge, resolution and fight against it. The present work is intended to be a source of information that makes available to those interested that information about illegal migration, as well as how state structures can and should be involved in the situation.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, ETHICAL INTEGRATION AND GLOBALIZATION

The presented paper deals with globalization in connection with the ethical and moral dimensions in public administration, global ethics, ethical conceptions and a feasible ethical integration in the area of public administration. The core of the article is concentrated on the most influential and debated ethical theories and their influence on public administration decision making and professional traits which have to take a dominant place in the field of administrative profession. Special attention is put on the role of public administration procedures of taking ethical decisions.