施连索格 德国全球伦理基金会
Schlensog, Stephen, Global Ethic Foundation
The core concept of the idea of a global ethic is the conviction that, notwithstanding all differences, we need common global rules across all cultures – moral values, norms, ethical standards – which will allow us to live in peace and harmony irrespective of borders between nations and cultures. In view of the enormous global challenges facing us, this is more urgent than ever before.
No state and no culture exists in isolation on our planet. We all depend on interactions and cooperation – whether political, economic or cultural – and we can only survive on this planet together. The world economic crisis, hunger, environmental problems, wars and conflicts in which cultural differences all play their part represent unprecedented challenges for the community of states. At the same time there is no state and no society in the world which does not face similar internal challenges: the urgent problem of violence (already in childhood), corruption, greed, egoism, moral disorientation, all of these are not merely deplorable phenomena of western capitalist cultures but are increasingly evident also in eastern cultures.
Since thousands of years, the great world religions and philosophical traditions have insisted on certain ethical standards – standards which are no less relevant today. In our view several consequences arise from this:
1. Men and women of different cultures and religions must know more about each other; they need greater intercultural expertise to be able to recognize not merely their differences but also what they share in common.
2. Above all, we must learn that we share more common ethical bonds than we might believe, even if individual religions and philosophies may give different explanations for these ethical postulates.
3. If we consider which values and norms contribute to peaceful coexistence in our society and in the world, there is no need to reinvent these values. We must only reawaken an awareness of the existing common ethical inheritance of religions and philosophies.
4. These common values and ethical principles are of primary importance, not merely for the life of individuals and families, but also in many different areas of society: from schools and work to politics, sports and other areas.
It was therefore a great pleasure for me and an important affirmation of our work when the participants of the “First Conference on a Global Ethic and Traditional Chinese Ethics” in Beijing already emphasized in 1997 that – I quote – “‘global ethic’ is an open system, and its conception is a starting point, not a final destination. We must continue the dialogue and the communication on a foundation of mutual tolerance and understanding”. And they expressed their hope “that the conception of a ‘global ethic’ could be enriched and perfected, publicized and practiced to benefit the establishment of moral relations between all people, nations and regions, and an international moral order”.
The Global Ethic idea is not utopian; it is a vision which shows us what a better world could and should look like. It is a vision for the future because it is based on the conviction that the promulgation of respect and understanding between cultures and the promulgation of ethical standards in politics, industry, trade and society is a political necessity. And it is a realistic vision, in many cases already being realized, and with our practical work we are attempting to translate these ideas in many different ways and at many different levels into social and political practice.
The precondition for this is, of course, solid scholarly work examining the fundamentals. Since the 1980s, Professor Küng and his team have systematically studied questions of inter-religious dialogue and common ethical standards. From the beginning, we worked together with philosophers and scholars in the fields of religious studies and cultural studies.
But a dialogue with scholars working in the fields of economics, political science and other disciplines is also indispensable for a global ethic as we wish to reach all stakeholders in a civil society with this topic and need to enter into a dialogue with as many people as possible. For an in-depth discussion of this point I would like to refer you to the book “A Global Ethic for Global Politics and Economics”, which is likewise available in Chinese.
Many hundreds or even thousands of yeas ago, Confucius, Jesus, Buddha Mohammed and other great and influential figures of world history traveled the world as “teachers”, “masters” or “prophets”, gathering disciples and pupils around them to persuade men and women of their message and provide answers in response to the challenges of their times. The ideas of these great personalities have become part of the traditions of our people and still remain seminal today. But if we wish to reach people with these ideas today, if we want to convince them and enable them to act in accordance with these ideas – and not merely reach the academic or social elite but people of all ages, classes and walks of life – then this will only be possible if we can mediate these ideas attractively and plausibly in well presented educational materials.
The Global Ethic Foundation has therefore put together a large range of media and teaching materials based on its research for different target groups and purposes.
Based on what I have just said, it should be clear that the Global Ethic Project is a global educational project. It aims to contribute to a global change in attitudes to ethics. Since we evolved into human beings, mankind has had to laboriously learn to behave with humanity, to behave truly humanely.
China’s great sage Confucius wanted to help man achieve greater humanity, in the full sense of the word. And such humanity must show itself in concrete and tangible behavior towards fellow men and society. It is recorded that he once said in one of his talks (3.3): “If a man is not humane, what can he do with the rituals? If a man is not humane, what can he do with the music?” And this, if you like, expresses a central concern of the global ethic.
译文Translation
传播全球伦理
全球伦理观的核心观念在于这一信念：尽管存在种种差异，但是，我们需要贯穿一切文化的通用全球规则——道德价值、规范和伦理标准，这些规则将使我们打破民族与文化的界线，和平而和谐地相处。鉴于我们所面临的种种巨大的全球挑战，对全球伦理的需要比以往任何时候都更紧迫。
在我们的地球上，没有任何一个国家，也没有任何一种文化能孤立地存在。我们都依靠相互交往与合作——无论在政治上、经济上，还是文化上——我们也只能共同生存于这颗星球上。在全球经济危机、饥荒、环境问题、战争和冲突中，文化差异发挥着各自的作用，这对国家共同体构成前所未有的挑战。同样，在这个世界上，没有一个国家，也没有一个社会不面临这些类似的内部挑战：紧迫的暴力问题（已见之于少年群体）、腐败、贪婪、利己主义、道德沦丧，所有这些问题不仅是西方资本主义文化的可悲现象，在东方诸文化中也愈加明显。
几千年以来，世界几大宗教和哲学传统一直秉持的某些伦理标准，对今天同样重要。我们从中可以得出以下几点：
1、持不同文化和宗教的男女必须增进相互了解；需要更多跨文化的专业知识，以使他们不仅能认识到彼此的差异，也能认识到彼此的共同点。
2、最重要的是，我们必须认识到，我们比自己可能相信的拥有更多相同的伦理约束，即便各种宗教和哲学可能对这些伦理要求作出不同解释。
3、如果我们认为，有些价值和规范有益于我们的社会和世界的和平共处，那么，我们就没有必要重塑这些价值。我们只须再次唤醒那种存在于宗教和哲学的共同伦理遗产中的意识。
4、这些共同的价值和伦理原则至关重要，不仅对于个人和家庭生活，而且对于许多不同的社会领域皆是如此：从学校、工厂到政治、体育和其他领域。
因此，在1997年于北京召开的“首届全球伦理与中国传统**会”上，与会者们已经强调：“‘全球伦理’是一个开放的系统，它的观念是一个起点，而非最终目标。我们必须继续在相互宽容和相互理解的基础上继续对话。”对此，我深感欣慰，这也是对我们工作的极大肯定。与会者们还表达了他们的希望，“我们将充实并完善‘全球伦理’观，宣传并实践这个观念，以帮助建立所有民族、国家和地区的道德关系，以及一种国际道德秩序”。
全球伦理并非乌托邦；它是一种远景，向我们展现一个更美好的世界可能怎样，应该怎样。这是对未来的展望，因为它基于这一信念：传播文化间的尊重和理解，以及在政治、工业、贸易和社会中传播伦理标准，乃是政治的必需。这是一个切实的展望，在很多方面业已成真，在我们的实际工作中，我们试图以多种不同方式，在不同层次上，将这些思想转化为社会和政治实践。
毫无疑问，这样做的前提是进行扎实的学术研究，以对全球伦理的各项基本原则做出说明。上世纪80年代以来，孔汉思教授和他的团队，就系统地研究了宗教间对话和共同伦理标准问题。从一开始，我们就在宗教研究和文化研究领域，与哲学家及其他相关学者们一起合作。
但是，对于全球伦理而言，与致力于经济、政治科学和其他学科领域研究的学者的对话也不可或缺，因为，我们希望能触及文明社会中所有的利益共享者，由此需要与尽可能多的人进行对话。关于这点的深入探讨，我想向大家推荐《全球政治与经济的全球伦理》，这本书也有中文版。
几百年甚至几千年以前，孔子、耶稣、佛陀、穆罕默德和其他在世界历史上富有影响力的伟大人物，作为“老师”、“导师”或“先知”云游四方，召集门徒和学生，用他们的教诲说服男男女女，并提供各种解答，回应其所处时代的种种挑战。这些伟大人物的思想，已成为我们传统中的一部分，现在依然葆有活力。然而，如果我们今天想向人们传播这些思想，如果我们想说服人们，并让他们照这些观念行事——不仅是向学院的或社会的精英传播，而且向各个年龄、阶层和各行各业的人们传播——那么，我们只有在条理清晰的教材中，以富有吸引力和说服力的方式讲授，这一目的才有可能实现。
根据我已经谈到的，显而易见，《全球伦理计划》是一项全球教育计划。它旨在为全球伦理变化作贡献。既然我们已进化为人，人类就必须努力学习人道地行事，真正人道地行事。
中国的伟大圣人孔子，致力于帮助人们在“仁”的最完整意义上变得更“仁”。这种“仁”必须从对同胞和社会的具体实际行动体现出来。据载，子曰（3.3）：“人而不仁，如礼何？人而不仁，如乐何？”这句话正好表达了全球伦理的主旨，如果大家愿意这样理解的话