MISSION STATEMENT

         1. GOAL. The goal of the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (CRVP) is to promote philosophical team research that draws upon the cultural resources of the peoples of the world and applies them for human progress in these times.

            2. HUMAN PROGRESS. Here "human progress" includes the physical and economic welfare of peoples in the context of their environment. It includes as well their spiritual welfare as realized in their interior consciousness, their social relations to other persons and peoples, and their appreciation and response to their created origins, present dignity and transcendent goal. The search is for an ever more rich appreciation and realization of these in the context of family and civil society, nation and world.

            3. CULTURAL RESOURCES. By "cultural resources" are understood the values and virtues by which responsible human freedom is exercised in a consistently creative matter, enabling in turn the formation of succeeding generations and preparing the way for the advancement of human life.

            4. RESEARCH. The "research" referred to is:

            (a) PHILOSOPHICAL. "Philosophical," understood as drawing upon the full resources of the field, not in a narrow technical sense, but as concerned with the deepest human problems related to culture and human progress as described above;
            (b) TEAMS. In "teams," in order to draw upon the reflected insights of the multiple approaches to philosophy and, as needed, of allied sciences, that is, to call upon the many modes in which the spirit is at work in the world;
            (c) GLOBAL. At specific university centers, each choosing its own theme in relation to #2 above, and employing philosophical reflection to apply the cultural resources of peoples to the specific challenges of their theme.

            5. MUTUAL CRITIQUE. Mutual critique is needed to assure the rigor and balance of the work. This is first in regular team meetings to discuss the chapters as they are drafted by the individual team members, second in regional meetings with representatives of related teams, and third in extended seminars drawing philosophers from all areas of the world for joint explorations of basic new issues.

            6. PUBLICATIONS. The Council publishes the resulting studies and assures global distribution of the volumes (60 thus far) to 600 research libraries, throughout the Second and Third, worlds in particular, as well as making them available on the Web (http://www.crvp.org) and through the usual commercial book distribution channels.

            7. OUTCOMES. The effect is a global philosophical process of cultural renewal. It initiates sustained coordinated cooperation between philosophers and with allied sciences. Its goal is to uncover and promote the stirrings of the Spirit in the many cultures, to share this between peoples, and to contribute thereby to the convergent progress of humankind. By overcoming egoism and promoting cooperation it seeks that deep peace which, surpassing all understanding, has formed the basis of the multiple authentic cultures and must be renewed in new ways in a time of global interchange.

ORGANIZATION AND ACTIVITIES

     The purpose of the Council for Research in Values and Philosophy (CRVP) is to identify areas related to values and social life which are in need of research, to bring together the professional competencies in philosophy and related human sciences needed for this research, and to publish the resulting studies.
     The members of the Council are prominent writers, educators, philosophers and social scientists from 33 countries throughout the world. The CRVP was formally organized and incorporated in the District of Columbia in 1983 with 501 C3 status. It has a small staff in Washington, D.C.; its board members and staff are listed on the letterhead.

HISTORY

     The Council grew out of a series of international philosophy conferences in Bulgaria, India and Kenya in the 1970s. Facing the difficult problem of how effectively to break through the ideologies in order to engage deep human concerns, a system of joint colloquia were developed with the national academies of science in Central and Eastern Europe. The issues centered largely on how human dignity as seen by the various cultures could provide philosophical foundations for a transformation of their social lives and systems. The first joint colloquia were held with an official Polish delegation in Munich in 1975, with a Hungarian delegation in Bonn and with a Bulgarian team in Sofia, both in 1976. Other meetings throughout the late 70s and 80s, held alternately at sites in Western and Eastern Europe, gradually unfolded new horizons in the area. One conference in Poland provided the philosophy of Solidarity with its final critical review before it became the main transforming force in the public arena there and, by 1989, throughout the entire region.

PROJECTS

Team Research on Building Democratic Societies: Civil Society

     Central and Eastern Europe: In 1989, as the highly centralized governments of Central and Eastern Europe began to crumble, the CRVP convoked the Institutes of Philosophy of the Academies of Science in a project to retrieve the foundational values found in their national cultures and now required for their rebuilding as democratic societies. The draft of their volumes on social reconstruction were presented for critical debate by the other teams from the region, first at a meeting in Krakow in 1991, then at meetings in Stara Lezna and Smolenice, Slovakia, in 1992 and 1994. Eight of the participating country teams have published a first, and at times a second, volume as part of the Council's series on Cultural Heritage and Contemporary Change.* Some of the participants have taken leadership positions in new political parties, in their governments and in newly-formed non-governmental organizations, and/ or move between these action roles and continuing work in research. A second round of volumes on: "Building Democratic Societies: Values and Rights" is in process.

     China: The first Chinese joint colloquium was held at Peking University in 1987. This has been followed since 1991 by annual colloquia with the Shanghai Academy of Social Science (SASS) and the Faculty of Philosophy at Fudan University. In 1993, a forum co-sponsored by the CRVP and hosted in Kyoto by the International Institute of Comparative Philosophy and Aesthetics convened two large delegations from China and one from other Asian, Western and Russian nations. The 1996 colloquia on: "Economic Ethics" with the National Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing; "Civil Society" with Fudan University; and "Spiritual Civilization" with SASS.

     Africa, Islam and Latin America The Council continues to develop similar sets of working teams, especially on civil society, in Africa, Islam and Latin America, with major conferences in Lima and Panama.

Faculty Seminars on Fundamental issues of Contemporary Social Life

     The Council hosts annual 10 week-long faculty seminars in Washington, to which it invites philosophers and others in positions formative of the public vision and outlook of their countries. These are joined by 10 scholars from different disciplines. Working as a team the 20 scholars think through issues bearing on ways to draw upon the cultural and spiritual resources of the various societies in fostering democratic governance and civil society. Upon returning to their countries, the participants in these seminars continue to pursue these issues in their university faculties and academies of science, and/or through their writings or participation in political and non-governmental organizations.

Moral Education for Responsibility in Social Life

     More recently, the Council has been asked to participate in the development of programs on character education in Latin America and in Eastern Europe, on business ethics in China, and in several countries on teaching tolerance for ethnic, national and religious diversity.
     The CRVP ia providing research design and coordination for teams in several Central and East European countries who are cooperating in analyzing which programs for teaching tolerance--of the many that have been tried there and elsewhere--have been successful and can earn public support for their expansion. These investigations are directed also to a better understanding of the ways that long-standing intolerance is transmitted from generation to generation and make a country vulnerable to demagogue-incited violence.
     The Council has special qualifications to assist in this. It developed an epochal project on the foundations of moral education with four teams of philosophers, psychologists, social scientists and specialists in education. This has published seven books on character education thus far, with articles by such well-known authors in this field as Robert Coles, Thomas Lickona, Kevin Ryan and some two dozen others. The 100,000 member Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development has summarized this work in a 50 page booklet. Distributed to 16,000 superintendents of schools, this is the closest approximation to a policy paper on moral education for public school systems. The Phi Delta Kappa, a teacher's organization, has relied upon the same research for a booklet sent to some 250,000 classrooms in the United States. The CRVP has co-hosted several international conferences on this subject: in Peru and four other Latin American countries in the 1980s, in Japan in 1993 and in Slovakia in 1994.

SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE COUNCIL

      Over the past 20 years the CRVP has established credibility with academies of science, with faculties at leading universities, and with prominent writers and political activists in many countries. Its effort is to identify the deepest human issues and to bring to bear the appropriate scholarly capabilities for mining the resources of the sciences and cultures for responding to the challenges of building democracy and civil society. Its work is characterized by its professional level and the breadth of its horizons.
     The qualification that may most distinguish the Council is a sense of spiritual and numinous fraternity that cuts across nationalities, philosophies and faiths. Almost certainly this accounts for much of the reason that the Council is invited to participate in the search for what a country should stand for. This fosters a sense of common purpose among those who seek ways to strengthen the cultural values, beliefs and energies that establish the character of a society and make it not just rich or powerful, but a good society. Throughout all this the goal of the Council is then deep scientific discovery and publication which contribute to the social life of humankind in our times.

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