Although we cannot find any Aesthetics system in the works of NISHIDA Kitarõ (1870-1945), the most significant and influential Japanese philosopher of the twentieth-century, one of his central themes is the role of art and aesthetics in relation with morality and religion. His aesthetics approaches are magnificent examples of his aim to overcome the innate dualism that sustains modern epistemology and a door, apparently hidden, to a better understanding of all his speculative scheme of philosophy. This paper attempts to throw light to the importance of the first aesthetic approximation developed by Nishida eleven years before the publication of Zen no Kenkyû [ 善 の ?究 ] (An Inquiry into the Good) (1911) and twenty-three years before the publication of the more accurate system of aesthetics that we read in Geijutsu to dôtoku [芸術 と 道? ] (Art and Morality) (1923). We will analyze the small essay entitled "Bi no Setsumei" [美 の ?明] ("An explanation of Beauty") (1900) and Nishida's first definition of beauty as muga [無我] (self-effacement or ecstasy).

The uplift of the individual or the community is not possible sans mind-control. Human’s well-being is inseparable from mind-control. All kinds of people need control of mind. Believers, atheists, agnostics, those who are indifferent to religion are in need of control of mind. There are many factors of uncontrolled mind. The greatest among them is the pleasure motive which eats away our will to control the mind. The pleasure-motive, being elemental aspect of human personality, cannot be obliterated completely by the common people. Complete renunciation of pleasure is not possible for the laity. Therefore when we seek physical pleasure, we should do it in such a way that it does not spoil our physical or mental health, or obstruct our higher development. That is to say, seeking pleasure should not be to the extent of self-destruction. Holy company is the other positive factor of mind-control. Association of pious people makes our task of controlling the mind easier. Similarly, yogic practices of relaxation and concentration increase human’s ability of regulating the mind and its expression.

Nishida’s analyses of human bodily existence, anticipating Merleau-Ponty’s, led him to accomplish his own “return to the lifeworld.” The later Nishida wrote: “I have now come to regard what I used to call the world of pure experience as the world of historical reality. The world of action-intuition is none other than the world of pure experience.” But Nishida’s attempt at a radical reconstruction of philosophy seems to suffer from a metaphysical optimism deriving from his notion of the “place of absolute nothingness”; in 1945, when Japan’s defeat and his own death were approaching him as if competing with each other, Nishida wrote: “A world war must be a world war which aims to negate a world war and to contribute to eternal peace.” "Our motivation for philosophizing must be, not wonder, but the deep sorrow of life"---Nishida's often-quoted metaphilosophical prescription was meant to be a critique of Western philosophy's penchant to objectify Being. It is said, however, that the "philosophy in search of peace" in the "Post-Hiroshima Age" was occasioned with "fear." By way of critical reconsideration of Nishidaphilosophy, this paper intends to search for a new philosophy of history, one prerequisite for which would be to comprehend concretely the relationships between the various “dimensions of reality.” And it would be nothing but those cardinal questions accompanied with wonder, sorrow, or fear that can bring into lightthe principal dimensions structuring the multiple-reality of our times.

This article aims to identify the main cultural factors that have contributed to East Timor’s conflict with Indonesia by increasing vulnerability, instability and violence and at presenting the structural fazes of the conflict. Please note that despite being grouped into categories, many of the cultural conflict factors are, infact, closely inter - linked and often act to reinforce one another.

Chidambaram Ramalingam (1823 – 1874) was a nineteenth century Indian-Tamilian poet, mystic, and visionary moral thinker well-known for his seminal contributions to Tamil religious and moral literature. He initiated a new moral and spiritual community and movement, Suddha Sanmargam, or “The Pure Path to True Harmony”, in the nineteenth century in the province of Tamilnadu in Southern India. One of Ramalingam’s texts which laid the philosophical foundation for this community and movement is his great unfinished essay “The Ethic of Compassion for Sentient Beings”. In this talk, I will attempt a systematic presentation of the moral vision and ethical system in his essay. Among Ramalingam’s central claims are the following: a) Compassion involves understanding or discernment of the ultimate metaphysical truth pertaining to sentient beings, b) Compassion is the foundation of all other moral virtues, c) Compassion provides the standard of the moral worth of actions, d) Compassion is the basis of morality itself, and e) Compassion is an essential condition of attaining spiritual liberation or enlightenment. In my talk, I will clarify, develop, and critically examine these five theses on compassion and consider relevant views and objections in the Western and Asian philosophical traditions.

In Mainland China, due to dominant status and decisive function of Marxism philosophy, philosophy has developed as the state ideology since the foundation of People’s Republic of China in 1949. However, since the 1990s the humanities and social sciences have been experiencing an obvious academic turn in Mainland China. The event first set in with a debate on academic norms and with the debate the academic norms have gradually become the mainstreamin Mainland China. In accordance with the division of disciplines in Mainland China, philosophy as the first-level discipline is subdivided into eight second-level disciplines: Marxist philosophy, Chinese philosophy, foreign philosophy, logic, ethics, aesthetics, religion, and philosophy of science and technology. Roughly speaking, aesthetics, ethics and Marxist philosophy have a remarkable turn, while others just have a weak one. The turn signifies the achievement of the academic autonomy of philosophy in China; and the turn also means that philosophy scholars have realized their transition to professional status.

The thrust of this article is to give a brief account of the ultimate reality as viewed by Indian philosophical system namely, Vedic philosophy, Upanisads, Buddhism, Jainism and Charvaka. Though the root of this issue is traceable to the Vedic hymns, there are various interpretations of these hymns concerning the nature of ultimate reality, for instance some of the orientalists introduces henotheism as a transitional stage from polytheism to monotheism in Indian philosophy but according to some of the Indian thinkers neither polytheism nor henotheism nor even monotheism can be taken as the keynote of the early vedic philosophy. This article has not covered the views of six Indian well-known schools of philosophy, i.e., Nimansa, Vedanta, Shankhya, Yoga, Nyaya and Vaisheshika particularly those of Shankara and Ramanuja concerning the nature of Brahma which are very interesting and thought-provoking.

The persons who adapt to changes as may be necessary in the course of their existence not only survive in the struggle for existence but also thrive and enjoy their lives in the best possible way under the given circumstances. For, life consists in various relationships, which are in constant movement and change.Therefore dealing with change or change-management has got pivotal importance in all walks of humans’ lives. In order to facilitate smooth change all big and small inheritances have to be shed off. Adaptation to change involves some amount of give and take. Before stepping into new shoes one has to remove old ones. Sticking to good or bad things of the past in some cases spoils the present. One should, therefore, be in a position to come out of the situation of status quoor inertia. In some cases our ego does not allow us to change. It forces us to remain in the state that we have been enjoying hitherto. If we are untouched by sense of exuberance and live a life of simplicity, we can break the fetters of ego. The crux of the problem lies in affecting the change of attitude towards the present state of affairs and performance of corresponding duty. The persons should realize that change in power, position, strength etc. is inevitable. So,they should be mentally and physically prepared for it. This can be conveniently achieved by developing adaptability to and management of change.

Chomin Nakae (Japanese thinker,1847-1901) has been called “the Rousseau of the East” by both Japanese and Chinese because he translated Jean-Jacque Rousseau, for instance, the Social Contract into Japanese and Chinese. It would be natural to suppose that Chomin read Rousseau’s books as an overseas student in France from 1872 to 1874 after the time of “ the Paris Commune”. It seems that many Chinese overseas students in Japan read Rousseau’s books in Chinese and Japanese translated by Chomin and accepted democratic and revolutionary thoughts originally born in the West and brought them home. Adding to the fact, it is insisted that the substance of Chomin’s thought is rather Confucian-biased democracy to be governed morally by both people and the sovereign than pure popular supremacy, which was gotten through examining the results of the recent research.

In Rethinking Applied Ethics Today, this paper would like to advance the concept of Ethics Consulting as a means of applying Applied Ethics in the practice of Bioethics. Applied Ethics is frequently described as a discipline of Philosophy that concerns itself with the application of moral theories such as deontology andutilitarianism to real world dilemmas. These applications however often remain restricted to the academic world and rarely reach the actual practice of those in urgent need of ethical guidance. Ethics Consulting is an emerging concept in the field of Applied Ethics, but has already shown great potential in extending the gains of academic thought to everyday deliberations on ethical dilemmas. Connected to the Coherence and Common-Morality Theories in Bioethics, the focusof Ethics Consulting has since the mid-1980’s shifted from issues of content to those of process - from what the ethicist knows to what the ethicist does or enable. This shift not only remodelled the ethicist’s role to that of a facilitator in an inherently social process of moral inquiry, but also added the responsibility of keeping moral reflective spaces open where sound and shared processes of ethical deliberation can take place. Applying these developments in the Namibian context has already proved to be of great value to patients and Medical Aid Funds and also holds great potential in addressing the ethical demands placed on medical practitioners and clinics.

Serious thinking about the models of application of ethics has enabled us to move away from ethical engineering and adopting a social-scientific vocation that is an aid to moral-engineering. Time is ripe to rethink about the charge of “structuralism” on the non-engineering model of applied ethics. If we fail to resolve this issue, a structuralist application of ethics will be unavoidable, leading way to the old engineering. The paper argues why “structuralism” is undesirable and how it is avoided in a model of discourse, that clears off engineering of any kind.

The latest philosophy of P. Ricoeur offers the opportunity to articulate an applied ethic responsive to the challenges of our time. This proposal is basically collected in his book The Fair 2, which compilates several works and makes cohesion of core issues of practical philosophy. Published a few years before his death, this work of Paul Ricoeur completes the itinerary of a moral and political philosophy devoted to the theme of justice. Extends and develops the works included in The Fair 1 (Caparrós, Madrid, 1999) and Love and Justice (Caparrós, Madrid, 1993). He starts from an original sense of justice where "the right thing" does not arise as a name or an abstract category, but as a nominalized adjective. This is not an abstract value but a value whose scope, accuracy and sense depends on its realization in the unity of human life. Retrieving the original sense already appeared in the Socratic dialogues of Plato, The Fair describes, defines and fulfils the praxis of justice. This analysis is productive in applied ethics because sets out the "application" in an originative and original way. It is not an activity posterior or outside the foundation, but an exercise of philosophical interpretation and moral creativity. By understanding applied ethics in this way, we findthrough The Fair the central issues of the philosophy of Paul Ricoeur: an anthropology of the capable human being, a hermeneutics of action and imagination, a reconstruction of the history of practical philosophy, and also an ethic of fair distance. This hermeneutics of The Fair as applied ethics is the leitmotif of the three parts of the book: studies, readings and exercises. He continues discussion with the contemporary moral philosophy (Rawls, Taylor, Apel and Habermas), placing it in a new philosophical perspective, for two reasons: First, it broadens the historical horizon retaking the Aristotelian matrix of moral philosophy (prudential wisdom, truth, goodness), and secondly, because Ricoeur opens up unexplored horizons for an personalist and communitarian anthropology in times of globalization (critical solicitude, transculturality, hospitality). We would like to present the creative possibilities offered by this hermeneutical philosophy to think, as Ortega y Gasset says, "at the height of our time".

If you cannot, then you ought not. Taking its own precepts seriously, philosophy, in the face of scientific deterministic success, has abandoned its original calling of inspiring munificence and, in doing so, has undercut much of its own relevance. But this need not be the case. If we adopt a more finely grained set of theoretical glasses, we will see that human freedom is simply the icing on a deterministic layer cake that launches entities, both phylogenetically and ontogenetically, from the object base, through consciousness, and then through self-consciousness, and finally to the possibility of reasonably based self-legislation. Greasing the wheels of the last step is Philosophy’s calling and responsibility. We can—and we ought because we can—fall inline with the Socratic echo, and agitate for munificence.

This paper intends to highlight the philosophical and ethical implications of cultural theory as initiated in the seventies by the British anthropologist, Mary Douglas. The first part will present cultural theory, mainly through her early works. We will particularly insist on the originality of this functionalist theory based on four interpersonal relationships patterns – defined according to grid and group dimensions – and their associated cultural biases, namely the egalitarian bias, the hierarchical, the insulated and the individualist one. In the second part of our study, we will show that in each of these biases, people behave and perceive differently and we will concentrate on these differences regarding risk. Finally, we will focus on one essential implication of this theory, its conception of rationality. Indeed, cultural theory implies a framework of plural rationalities, which is of paramount importance if we consider its ethical consequences. We will try to lighten these and show how it might influence risk management.

All around the world, but especially in the Third World, we are confronted by beggars who appeal to our sympathy. Most of us have no principled way to deal with the situation. Should we give to them? How much? To what purpose? We are inclined to let our momentary feelings dictate our response. Although applied ethicists have been tackling the general question of poverty in the world and what we ought to do, if anything, to alleviate it, nobody seems to have taken an interest in the specific part of the general question which involves mendicity. This paper argues, firstly, that the question of our duties, if any, towards beggars demands a reasoned answer, and secondly, that careful reasoning indicates that we should channel the resources we are ready to give to beggars not tothem directly but rather to charities, for they have more and better information on who can and should be helped.

Ecological humanism is a new broadened form of human ethics that coming into being as an answer to an ecological crisis and an ideology of total consumption. There are two approaches in basing of ecological humanism. The first of them is founded on traditional human values or on anthropocentrism. Milieu is considered as important living conditions that must be conserved with great care but the number of one is man here. The second approach is more radical. It strives to overcome anthropological egoism and is based on Earth-altruism. Its credo can be presented as general weal for all geobiocoenosis. Good is all that helps to preserve integrity, stability and beauty of Earth-community. Stable development can be defined as safeguarding of human living inharmony with ecological systems. As it is well known, 57-th session of UNO announced that 2005-2014 years will be devoted to a program of education for stable development. The Mongolian Government asseverated a national program of ecological education for Mongolia from 1997. Its main object was a forming of common ecological culture for stable development. This program provided:‐ ecological training for common life‐ laying organizing structures and law grounds‐ co-ordinating tacks of stable development with other national projects‐ including ecological knowledge in educational programs.We think also that there is need to elaborate new human ethics that could provide new common living culture for Mongols. There is ecological ethics or ecological humanism that, above all, will remove a tradition of human predominance over nature and establish equality between human beings and animate nature.

The so-called Brundtland-Report defines Sustainable Development as a conception of intra- and intergenerational justice, which is to be realized by a globally just distribution of possibilities for satisfying human basic needs as well as assuring such possibilities for future generations. Hence, any political and/orsocietal decision is addressed by the ethical demands of Sustainable Development insofar it affects possibilities for satisfying human basic needs. In particular, this concerns – contrary to the widespread opinion that Sustainable Development only has to deal with problems of environmental ethics – the legitimization of biomedical applications. After all, especially such decisions often face the problem of measuring and trading‐off potential advantages and disadvantages regarding possibilities for satisfying human basic needs. Based on the example of decisions about establishing biobanks, my talk firstly will show that Sustainable Development actually demands much more from political and societal decisions than just being concerned about environmental ethics. Secondly, it will clarify these demands in detail. Thirdly, it will address the issues of how these demands can be implemented adequately. My talk therefore will show which conditions political and/or societal decision processes have to meet in order to comply with Sustainable Development.

The paper aims to reflect upon the significance of interrelationship of ethics and business in multinational corporate world. The issue of focus is: Which is appropriate course for pursuing business without ethics or business with ethics? To arrive at a just resolve, the paper attempts to see the pros and cons of introducing ethics into business. The pivotal problem seems to lie with regard to the concept of 'profit making' in business. Business corporates are apprehensive of not being able to earn 'maximum'-profit if business activity is pursued with moral considerations. On the other hand, those who argue for ethics in business emphasize that ethical values are prior to 'maximization' of profit making. On their view, the point of emphasis is that it is after-all human beings for which business activity is carried out. As such, business (must) is to 'serve' them rather than make them 'suffer'. By the term 'human beings', we mean here the concept of 'society' and not 'individual'-in-isolation from other individuals. Nevertheless, to mean this, it is not to deny the fact that individual is a species of society. Also, it is defensively argued that the apprehension that ethical behaviour negatively affects profit making in business is not true on the ground that contrarily in fact ethical attitude is really consistent with rather than obstructive to business pursuit for a healthy society and abhyudaya (i.e., for rise and prosperity for all). Hence the case for ethics in business.

The paper discusses a neglected condition for justified self-defense, namely, 'The Success Condition [SC].' According to SC, otherwise immoral acts can be justified under the right to self-defense only if they actually achieve the intended defense from the perceived threat. If they don't, they are almost always excused, but not morally justified. I show that SC leads to a troubling puzzle because victims who estimate they cannot prevent the attack against them would be morally required to surrender. I try to solve the puzzle by relying on what I call 'The Honor Solution.' Even if defensive acts fail to protect the victim's body, property, or life, they are successful in protecting her honor, thus they do ultimately meet the success condition.

The global principles must be the response to the globalizing world. If it is a global selfishness, the humanity will collapse. That is why; the global elfishness should be opposed by the common to all humanity sacral values or the lanetary ethics. Planetary ethics is the whole complex of interconnected principles, ideas and sets, - the complex that ought to be brought to a working system, - dynamic and strict. All these ideals and principles flows from the common to all humanity moral values, fixed in the best philosophical works of the various states and peoples, in the religious confessions with заветами of love, mercy, moral purity,striving to the living in the harmony with nature and with self. The traditional values of the Turkic world call for it. To the very principles of the planetary ethics should be attributed the following:• Tolerance;• Peaceful and the constructive dialogue of cultures, civilizations and religions;• Education for all, education should be with the priority of воспитание over study of any kind of knowledge and professional skills;• Ecological imperatives of humanity’s culture.The principles of integral ethics should accepted by everyone and anybody: the states’ leaders, international organizations, civil structures and by individuals