Book review
The Globalization of Ethics. By William M. Sullivan and Will Kymlika. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Pp. 305.
The book is a collection of essays on ethics in a broader sense of the term. The aims of this book some what seems to be a globalization of ethics, which the editors claim to be a "surprisingly neglected phenomenon." The book has eleven chapters an written in 305 pages. 0written in a rather simple language, the book provides the reader with sufficient information to understand the topic. Its good both for the students and an ordinary reader as it is very educative and has not focused on any particular audience. They have considered different views of different ethical traditions of the world. In particular they deal with how these traditions think about the task of constructing moral conversations and moral norms at a global level.
This is a world of different cultures and religions and nations that look for a moral guidance for all that they do to their own cultures and religions. And these cultures and religions with their moral traditions allow and encourage cooperation across various religions and cultures. They also might possibly be holding conflicting norms and opinions which makes cooperation difficult. These sorts of conflicts arise precisely because of their ethical sensitivities. Despite all these chances of conflict, there are also rooms for consent among different ethical traditions. These areas of agreements, therefore, outweigh the areas of disagreement. Though all these problems take place in the course of the development of various cultures and religion, the scope of moral values is really bright. This is the context of the book, as far as I understand, in which the authors have provided their views and concerns. Having said this I would also like to add that none of the articles n the book does contain any sort of initiatives to promote a dialogue across ethical traditions to help them clarify the real points of agreement and disagreement, to lessen the possible trouble that follow. Neither do they give you any sort of tips as how to be a real moral man/woman. All what they do is to evaluate the present kind of approach towards ethical values prevalent in the world.
The essays in this book give us an idea as to how it is widely recognized by most traditions today that the attempt to impose one's values on others is both "illegitimate and unrealistic." Another outcome of the discussions here is that it shows how each tradition thinks that the others will come to share its values and perspectives through the force of example and persuasion.
As far as the structure of the book is concerned, it could be noted that it is constructed in a two way thought pattern. According to the authors, the contemporary debates over the globalization of ethics typically involve at least two elements: "(1) the attempt to construct a common self-standing international discourse, such as the discourse of universal human rights…; and (2) the attempt to promote dialogue amongst defenders of different ethical traditions, each explaining and defending their distinctive concepts and norms…" put together these elements can be identified as "the construction of a shared ethical discourse and the exploration of diverse ethical discourse."
In a bid to show how and what different religions of the world think about moral values and to give us an idea about these values, the authors have tried to bring out a detailed discussion on all these. They also talk about the prominent moral principles of each religion and tradition mentioned here. In chapter two of the book, Daniel Philpott explores the history "the international law tradition and its influential attempt to build a new globalized ethical vocabulary through the language of human rights." Though it is purely a form of law rooted in legal reasoning, it is also seen as an "ethical project". Philpott describes how a process of "dialogue" and "re-interpretation" has resolved some of the ethical disagreements over the years.
The book then proceeds to explaining how a range of ethical traditions have understood the ethical values. They refer to the principles of some of the major religions of the world. They also give us an idea as to how they understand developing a "globalized ethics". In chapter 3 the understanding of ethics by the Jews is explained. In chapter it's the Christian understanding of morality that is explained. Max Stackhouse examines debates within the tradition about the implications of globalization of Christian ethics. He points out the "Falls" of human beings, whose evils Christians must bear. He mentions globalization as God's "providential grace" and an opportunity to spread the Christian values across the world.
Chapter 5 is more interesting as it is a narrative of the Buddhist understanding of morality. According to Peter Nasco, the author, "Buddhism has proven surprisingly resilient and successful in the new global market place of ideas, n part because many of its core ideas reflect the defining conditions and needs of the modern era. The Buddhists emphasis on the importance of compassion as the foundation of morality fits well with modern ideas of humanitarian obligation, just like we understand the role of peace in the modern understanding of human rights.
The views of Muslims and the Confucian tradition are followed up by a discussion on natural moral tradition. When talking about natural law, Mark Murphy notes that "it is one of the intellectual antecedents of contemporary human discourse." The proponents of natural law present it as a universal ethic, accessible to all rational beings.
Conclusion
We get to see an experiment of dialogue among a group of the ethical traditions that shape the contemporary world in this book. Though they do not give us particular principles of ethics as such they do give us an idea as to how different traditions of ethics think about ethics. The value of the book lies in its invitation to the reader to explore the "complexity of the issues posed by the many kinds understanding of ethics. Dialogue to improve this condition becomes possible only by learning to see from the other's point of view. By giving us analogies and examples that try to speak across traditions, the chapters in this book give us variety of suggestion to improve our moral life. "They suggest an ethical enterprise that is based upon the aim of making our unavoidable interdependence work positively for the global common good."
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