Cultural Diversity and Transversal Values: East–West Dialogue on Spiritual and Secular Dynamics Cultural Diversity and Transversal Values: East–West Dialogue on Spiritual and Secular Dynamics The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this text and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. Acknowledgements Japan Foundation International Research Center for Japanese Studies Research Center for Moral Science, Institute of Moralogy, Japan Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies (ICPHS) Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO) International Society for the Comparative Study of Civilizations (ISCSC) French National Commission for UNESCO Japanese National Commission for UNESCO Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan Permanent Delegation of Japan to UNESCO English editor Samantha Wauchope Cover Life by Kenji Yoshida Design and layout Marie-Pierre Galleret Printed by UNESCO Publication executed under the direction of The Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue, Culture Sector, UNESCO The Section of Philosophy and Human Sciences, Social and Human Sciences Sector, UNESCO The Research Center for Moral Science, Institute of Moralogy, Japan Contact The Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue, Culture Sector UNESCO, 1, rue Miollis, 75732 Paris Cedex 15 – France Tel:+33145684086/4275 Fax:+33145685597 © UNESCO 2006 All rights reserved (CLT-2006/WS/17 REV.) Table of Contents Opening Statement 1 by Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO 1st Session: The East–West Encounter in History Moderated by Jean Pierre Boyer, Secretary-General of the French National Commission for UNESCO The Confucian ethic and the spirit of East Asian modernity 7 by Tu Weiming The impact of cultural transfers on secularism in France 14 by Jean Baubérot Deus nyorai and the fear of Christianity in Japan in the Meiji period 20 by Hartmut O. Rotermund Buddhism and Christianity: an in-depth encounter 28 by Michiko Ishigami Universalism and transversalism: dialogue and dialogics in a global perspective 38 by Michael Palencia-Roth 2nd Session: Mediators and Means of Dialogue Moderated by Katérina Stenou, Director of the Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue, UNESCO The Silk Roads as routes of dialogue among civilizations 53 by Eiji Hattori Society systems and value systems: nomadic cultures as means and actors of dialogue 58 by Jacques Legrand Views of the world common among various cultures along the Silk Road 68 by Kosei Morimoto Modalities of intercultural dialogue 76 by Fred Dallmayr v Towards a civilization based on beauty, from civilizations based on truth and goodness 84 by Heita Kawakatsu 3rd Session: Cultural Diversity and a Plurality of Values Moderated by Françoise Rivière, Assistant Director-General, Executive Office of the Director-General, UNESCO A new view of the present civilization from the universal viewpoint 93 by Takafumi Matsui Science’s conception of human beings as a basis for moral theory 99 by Henry Stapp Concepts of time: cyclical or linear? 104 by Odon Vallet Sustainability as viewed from an ethos of rice cultivation and fishing 106 by Yoshinori Yasuda Woods and sanctuaries in Japan 111 by François Macé Perspectives of language: cultural differences and universality in Japanese 119 by Mizue Sasaki 4th Session: The Impact of Modernity on the Transfer of Cultures Moderated by Moufida Goucha, Chief of the Section of Philosophy and Human Sciences, UNESCO Confucian values: a catalyst for modern Europe 129 by Danielle Elisseeff East Asia and the evolution of common values 133 by Yersu Kim From Watsuji’s concept of ‘human’ to beyond the limits of modern ontological topos 138 by Augustin Berque The impact of modernization on the conservation of historical heritage in China 145 by An Jiayao vi The mundialization of lifeworlds in the age of globalization 150 by In-Suk Cha Christian values and modernity: in praise of the conscience 154 by Francesco Follo 5th Session: Transversal Values in a Diverse World Moderated by Eiji Hattori, Deputy Director of the Research Center for Moral Science, Institute of Moralogy (Japan) and Chargé de mission to the Executive Office of the Director-General of UNESCO Towards a renewal of the concept wa for the culture of peace 163 by Naoshi Yamawaki Why the civil society is not good enough 167 by Amitai Etzioni ‘Hieroglossia’: the importance of sacred traditional languages to the great civilizations of Europe and Asia 179 by Jean-Noël Robert Islam and the Knowledge Society 187 by Mhamed Hassine Fantar The network of interdependence as a basis for transversal values 196 by Nobumichi Iwasa Final communiqué 205 vii Opening statement by Koïchiro Matsuura Director-General of UNESCO Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, It gives me great pleasure to welcome you this morning to UNESCO on the occasion of the international symposium on Cultural Diversity and Transversal Values: East–West Dialogue on Spiritual–Secular Dynamics. In bringing together researchers of very different nationalities and backgrounds and mobilizing various sectors of UNESCO to address the same issue, this meeting is in itself a real achievement. Allow me, therefore, first of all to give my heartfelt thanks to the many French, Japanese and other partners who have agreed to take part in this collective debate or to offer it their invaluable support. I would also like to take this opportunity to give special thanks to the Japan Foundation for its generous financial support, and to Mr Eiji Hattori for coordinating all the work with skill and efficiency. I sincerely welcome this meeting, because it brings into perspective the interplay between three dimensions that we cannot dissociate: cultural diversity, the transversal and shared nature of the values that underlie cultures and civilizations, and, lastly, the forces at work in the complex and varying interactions between cultural practices and world views. As you know, the General Conference of UNESCO less than a month ago adopted a convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions. Through that instrument, the Member States wished to express their concern about the dangers of cultural impoverishment and uniformization in the context of intensified globalization, and their commitment to combating that phenomenon through greater support for the very principles of diversity, by providing States with the means to formulate cultural policies in a climate of dialogue that is respectful of human rights. However, the protection of cultural diversity cannot be effective unless dialogue between cultures, and particularly between their religious and 1 spiritual expressions, is strengthened in order to ward off the threats that loom when ignorance and rejection of the Other supplant tolerance, understanding and openness. Thus, by seeking to bring the two cultural entities of the Far East and the West together in dialogue, and in focusing on the relationship between cultural transfer and modernity, this symposium ties in perfectly with one of UNESCO’s ongoing concerns which, as the Constitution states, is to develop and to increase the means of communication between peoples for the purposes of mutual understanding and a truer and more perfect knowledge of each other’s lives. This call for dialogue and for the opening of borders and disciplines has been at the heart of the Organization’s major international projects: I am thinking in particular of the well-known East–West Major Project of the 1950s and 1960s, which led to the creation of institutions in various countries and to translation on an unprecedented scale, or the Silk Roads: Roads of Dialogue project, which since the 1980s has contributed to the strengthening of cultural cooperation between numerous countries and to the creation of many other interregional dialogue projects based on the ‘roads’ principle. Since that time, our efforts to strengthen the dialogue between the peoples of the East and West have not ceased. Thus, UNESCO has strongly encouraged the establishment of dialogue at the interregional level, particularly between thinkers and philosophers from different regions of the world, on the model of the philosophical dialogue between Asia and the Arab world launched in November 2004 and the philosophical dialogue between Africa and Latin America, which is to be launched at the end of this month. The aim of meetings like this one is of course to foster such dialogue. The comparative approach that you plan to adopt at your various working sessions on the dynamics of cultural transfer, the sharing and plurality of values and the mechanisms for genuine intercultural dialogue will open up valuable horizons and will undoubtedly pave the way for greater dialogue. I am therefore convinced that this symposium will enable us to gain a better understanding of the processes of modernization, to examine the concept of cultural diversity in greater depth, to formulate recommendations of use in promoting broader interregional dialogue and to develop a methodology that might