Search for a New Humanity

by Josef Derbolav and Daisaku Ikeda

In the tradition of the great philosophers, the two authors of this book engage in a dialogue on fundamental issues, including tradition and modernization, humanism in the East and the West, and the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 083480252X
• ISBN13: 9780834802520
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Art Media Resources
• Length: 265 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

A Bridge Between Asian and European Cultures

This work is a discussion on topics including religion, education, ethics, humanism and Buddhism/Christianity. Through the dialogue, SGI President Ikeda and Derbolav, professor of education and philosophy at the University of Bonn, offer a bridge between Asian and European cultures.

Contemporary Issues, Buddhist Wisdom, Greek Philosophy

This book deals with a variety of contemporary problems in the form of a dialogue between Daisaku Ikeda, president of Soka Gakkai International, the world's largest Buddhist organization, and the late Josef Derbolav (1912-87), then professor emeritus of the University of Bonn and a world-renowned authority on pedagogy and Greek philosophy.Together they explore a wide range of topics, starting with a discussion of the tension between tradition and modernization in Japan and elsewhere. They compare humanism in East and West, and Buddhism and Christianity. Focusing on the crucial topic of education, they consider the roles of ethics and religion. They conclude their dialogue by "searching" for a new humanity that can face and conquer the daunting problems we have created in our century, especially overpopulation and destruction of the natural environment. By selecting the word "search" for their title, the authors consciously stress the dialectic approach, whether it be that of Plato searching for the ideal, Augustine for God, or the bodhisattva of the Buddhist tradition searching for perfect enlightenment. This search for the future is to be based on substantial expertise, the strongest sense of responsibility and the highest degree of self-control.Therefore, they state, "it is necessary to remember that attaining a new form of humanity entails an inner revolution - a radical alteration of our way of thinking - that will free us from prominent egoistic, commercial, and ideological motivations and at the same time liberate us to the deep and genuine claims of Eastern and Western cultural traditions and such of their treasures as Buddhism and Christianity."The discussion began in May 1981 when Ikeda visited West Germany and continued in 1982 in Tokyo and then again in 1983 in Bonn. During the intervals, they sustained their dialogue through regular correspondence, clarifying and elaborating their views.