THE
DIALOGUE OF CULTURAL TRADITIONS:
1.Introduction
The conference will be held just prior to the World Congress of Philosophy and
will provide a unique opportunity to engage philosophically the deeper issues of
cultural interchange in our time. Through dialogue across cultures it will
search for ways to render the process of globalisation more humane.
The
conference will build on the over 100 volumes in the RVP series, “Cultural
Heritage and Contemporary Change,” produced by teams of philosophers from all
parts of the world. It will enable mutual critique of work done, determine work
that is now needed, and plan responses through regional and global cooperation
in philosophy. This constitutes a new direction for philosophy, namely, from the
ground up and with the participation of all peoples, as is appropriate for the
new multicultural and global context.
In
sum, this conference will:
(a)
ask how the emerging awareness of one’s own and others’ cultures can enrich
and advance philosophy;
(b)
draw on the work done, but rather than going back to what has been written, draw
that forward for facing the new and emerging contemporary challenges;
(b)
look to the cultures of the different regions of the world, but rather than
remaining in any one, bring these diverse horizons together in order to spark
new insight; and
(c)
seek to evoke thereby the needed ongoing team research and publication in
philosophy.
2.
Challenges and Goals
The
new millennium calls philosophers to go beyond the abstract rationalist
dichotomies of modernity; they look with new insight into their lived cultural
heritages for resources with which to humanize and enrich modern technological
and social progress, and to enable these to promote rather than supplant the
riches of their cultural identities and traditions. This search is enlivened,
but also made more complex by the economic, political and informational effects
of globalisation.
If
these effects are to be liberating rather than coercive, philosophy is needed as
a dialogical partner to help define a key issue of the 21st century,
namely, the interface between the plurality of cultures and civilizations in the
ongoing process of globalisation. The philosopher’s historic search for unity
in diversity, recast in today's language, can contribute much to this burning
issue. Its task is to deepen the search in each tradition for the prospects of
dialogue in which each cultural identity is respected, protected and promoted,
while being called to respond from its resources to urgent shared needs.
Unfortunately, while all the world can now see satellite images of the global
whole, increasingly this would seem to be dominated by more sophisticated forms
of economic, political and cultural manipulation,
verging on coercion. Yet, if infused with interdependence and solidarity, the
process of globalization could be the dawn of new opportunities. For these to be
realized there is need for dramatically new ways of thinking in terms both of
the whole in which all are related and of the responsive subjectivity by which
values are shaped, freedom is exercised, and hope is generated. Dialogue that is
global—open and circular—is needed in the present intercultural context;
such conversation, not clash, is the philosopher's trade.
Through
such thinking what is personal can become more social, and what is global more
humane; ethics can thereby be enriched by the cumulative cultural experience of
the many peoples; and civilizations can be more dialogical in an aesthetic
context marked by harmony and beauty. This is the real challenge to philosophers
in our day. Such a conversation is most urgent, practical, and filled with
promise; this conference is concerned to shape and refine that conversation.
3.
Structure and Methodology
A.
Opening Session: Three keynote addresses, with accompanying discussion, will open the
philosophical horizons to this new global dialogue of civilizations:
-
beyond economics and politics, culture as the humane dimension of globalization;
-
human dignity and the making of a just world order, North and South; and
- the diversity of cultures and the possibilities of cultural interchange vs
cultural hegemony.
B.
Thematic Discussions: In four concurrent discussions, each initiated by short overviews to
introduce key issues, participants will examine specific philosophical
dimensions of the global relations between cultures:
-
epistemology: new ways of the thinking and interpreting in terms of the whole:
epistemology and hermeneutics;
-
person and community; rights and duties;
-
globalization as the new integrating context for contemporary life; pluralism
and tolerance; dialogue vs hegemony;
-
ethics: the bases of values in multiple cultures and their implications for
issues of the environment and of public service.
Drawing
on the world wide RVP series of studies this conversation will emerge from the
ground up, rich with contributions of the many cultural contexts. It will seek:
to identify present challenges and move on to chart new paths for work in
philosophy; to understand how cultural traditions as pertaining to the essence
of life as human are not closed and opposed, but open and related; and to
envisage how global cooperation in philosophy can promote, their creative
thrust. (For related readings see http://www.crvp.org/conf/Istanbul/suggested_readings.htm).
C.
Regional Strategies: Two sessions of the
conference will be dedicated to regional planning. These will enable
participants from the particular parts of the world from their own cultural
horizons: to assess their philosophical situation, to analyze their needs and
prospects, and to plan together ongoing research, meetings, and publications.
These ideas will be presented in a plenary session in order to benefit from
cross-cultural critique and invite cooperation on a global scale.
| Program & Schedul | Readings |
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