More on Rushworth Kidder's writings (RE Global Common Values)

[Einar Stefferud <stef@nma.com>]

For those of you who are interested in our "common values" issues in
the evolution of the Internet;-)...  And the DNS MESS;-)...

It is my belief at this point, that the Internet is a large factor in
creating the need for a search for global common values, and the proof
of my assertion is in our troubles with DNS, et al, cum ICANN.

I hope that we can find some way to involve Rushworth Kidder in our
efforts to build global consensus in a truly fractured global
community.

Cheers...\Stef


------- Forwarded Message

From: JimFMcHugh@aol.com
To: Stef@nma.com
Subject: Rushworth Kidder's Books
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1999 04:47:54 EST

Hi Stef:

I found your comments fascinating on Kidder's book.  Title: "Shared
Values for a Troubled World: Conversations with Men and Women of
Conscience" I am anxious to read it.  

I found the reference to the book in the final pages of a bi-monthly
journal published by the Lucis Foundation (which you would not relate
to).

The review in Amazon states:

Is there such a thing as a universal code of ethics? A senior
columnist for the Christian Science Monitor interviews 24 remarkable
people from different cultures, beliefs, and walks of life and comes
up with a short list of values that cross cultural boundaries.  A
shrinking world and technological progress, argues Kidder, mean that
problems are increasingly global and demand solutions that presuppose
a framework of values acceptable everywhe re.

Kidder (Re-Inventing the Future--not reviewed) challenges the
fashionable belief that there are no universal values.  He offers us
the views of a diverse range of men and women who are involved in the
fields of religion, education, business, literature, and politics, and
who are regarded by their peers as ethical standard-bearers.  We meet
Federico Mayer, director general of UNESCO; Reuben Snake, a Native
American tribal chief; Nien Cheng, the bestselling Chinese author;
Graca Machel, Mozambique's former first lady; a Catholic priest; a
Bangladeshi banker; a Buddhist monk in Japan; a Maori activist in New
Zealand; and many more.  Feminist historian Jill Ker Conway sees the
rise of fundamentalism as filling a vacuum left by a secular education
and the consequent erosion of moral value, and she looks forward to a
revival of internationalism rooted in environmental awareness.  Former
president of Costa Rica Oscar Arias argues that demands for individual
rights are less valid than a sense of responsibility derived from our
inescapable interdependence with the ecosystem.  In a concluding
chapter Kidder picks out eight values that emerge from all the
interviews including love, truthfulness, fairness, freedom, community,
and tolerance.  Since his approach is avowedly pragmatic, Kidder does
not address philosophical problems, yet he is careful to nuance his
position and to avoid the temptation of trying to prove too much.  A
popular but intelligent approach to a continuing concern.  
 -- Copyright -1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

AND, I have found another of his books that looks interesting; How
Good People Make Tough Choices: Resolving the Dilemmas of Ethical
Living BY Rushworth M. Kidder

Synopsis Every day, people face tough choices in which their basic
moral principles seem to be in conflict.  Now, the Director of the
Institute for Global Ethics offers a clear strategy for solving
ethical dilemmas.  Rushworth Kidder explains ends-based, rule-based,
and care-based decision making--and uses real-life examples to show
how these principles can applied to thorny problems.

So, Stef, if you really want to contact Kidder for your international
efforts, get in touch with the Christian Science Monitor or the
Institute for Global Ethics.

Cheers -    jim

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