Since man became able
to view the earth from outer space, the view of the world and society have
developed by leaps and bounds. This has often been referred to as the Second
Copernican Turn. At the same time, this has led to a recognition that the issue
of the global environment is something that must be tackled by all those on
earth bringing together their total force as human society , going beyond the
respective governments, corporate groups, racial and social differences, in
order to protect the earth and its environment as a condition of existence of
mankind and human society.
We
recall afresh the Kyoto Conference (COP-3), followed by various other
conferences initiated by the United Nations; the
industries are also in
the midst of reorganization, seeking for an industrial structure and system of
the recycling type, of assembly and de-assembly. Urban life is also promoting
movements to reform ways of thinking and reorganizing toward a new social life
system, referred to as "co-life with the environment." Under the name of
integration of knowledge, the human sciences, are all in the midst of great
transition leading up to the management of the global system. It includes the
ecological synthesis of every living organism including human ecology, animals
and plants; it extends to a theory of the cosmic ecology based on the familiar
eco-society theory to the view of the fluid cosmos, incorporating ideas of
natural circulation, the ecological understanding of the circulation of energy
and matter in the universe, the use of plasma currents and the gravitation of
other satellites.
On the other hand, the
awakening of the self and assertion of one's identity in this age of
communication through the information revolution also indicates the arrival of
the age of enhanced awareness of relationships with others. The order of power
and obligation root- ed in utilitarianism is moving toward a new age which views
social order built on respect, based on reliable information and the
distribution of responsibility. The religious world is not an exception. The
spirit of the times is reflected in the repeated world conferences on the global
environment as well as those on world religions, which have common roots. Human
society, which holds countless histories and societies, is now about to
reexamine the conditions of its existence, its own creation and development as
the elements discover each other: the global era, the era of human society , as
human beings and members of human society who compete and cooperate, the global
system which incorporates the human society , the global environment. This can
be called a path that creates a new human science, which may be called the
culture of human ecology that incorporates the various worlds of religion as
well.
The Fundamental
Problem of the Age Caused by the Global Environmental Problem
In the tradition of
the sciences of man, the history of tackling environmental problems is not all
together such a new one. At times in conflict as man and the environment, and at
times in fusion as man and the environment, it goes without saying that the
history of human existence has developed in correlation to the environment. All
civilizations, all religions, the history of mankind itself have risen from this
relationship. Then why take up environmental problems of the earth now? Without
an understanding of thisr to pointlessly encourage a retum to the classics or a
return to the philosophical thought of primeval religion is similar to standing
at the origin of history and denying the rest of history that followed. This is
a dogma that all research of history falls into. A verification of the
fundamental problem to be resolved at present becomes necessary. Without this
examination of the provisional conditions in the current ager one cannot speak
of a contemporary fundamental problem. In contrasting the contemporary with the
fundamental problem of the predecessor, the successive history of a sciencer
which brings classic research alive in today's world, is established. This is to
say that the efforts to modernize and actualize classical thinking and ideals
through the examination of provisional conditions are what pave the way for a
new science that can be called the culture of human ecology which moves from
religion to science.
Within the history of
modem Western Europe, the acquisition of independence by man placed human
history which had once promoted assimilation with the environmentr in a
triangular relationship of subjectr environment and resources. When the
environment was positioned within this correlationr modem science
was inclined to treat
these factors independently. We may say that it was the controversy on pollution
(kogai in Japanese) which first broke this trend in human science.
Well-intended human efforts or independent human efforts were destroying the
environmentr resourcesr and man himself. When this recognition disturbs the
balance of the triangle, the position of human beings is revived. This is an
argument between the environment and human rights. The environment for us does
not refer to nature alone. Not only the atomic bomb nor victims of pollution,
but the claim of Afro-Ameri- cans and the South Americans was this indeed. It
was an awakening to original sin, to gou (Kalpa in Sanskrit) in Buddhist
terminology. The environment came to be perceived as not only one aspect of the
triangle, but a basic condition for the existence of the triangle itself.
Yet, the fundamental
problem of that age did not connect immediately to the revival of the religious
world. Just as the development of medicine, although having extended to social
medicine, was still at the level of a service provided for the individual,
religious salvation and the idea of spiritual peace was still outside learning
and modem science. This was the world of ethical rules and those seeking the
rightful path, which were conditions to be protected outside the megacycle of
the age, whose tasks were industrialization, informatization, and then
'sensitization.' Such thoughts had not yet been internalized within the human
ecology. The religious world, as with medicine, is not the protagonist of the
match, even if the doctor's orders are to stop. Therefore, in the world of
medicine or religion, people could not put the brakes on their own moral hazard.
In other words, in the religious world today, it is as if to survive in the
industrial society in the trade of funereal Buddhism or an ornamental religion
that cannot be a part of modern fundamental problems among the issues of the
day. The perception of the global environmental task is now about to change this
situation as a fundamental problem of the new age, and as a modern provisional
condition that supports it. The world of religious thought in a new form is also
at a time in this realization to graduate into a culture of the human ecology
and its science.
The first
perception of the problem is the following:
"The increase in
population and the develop- ment of human society destroys the earth."
The world population
has multiplied fourfold in the past century. This alone would merely be a
traditional Malthusian proposition. However, at the center is the Third World
with its growth in population and the increase of CO2 in the developed nations.
In addition to the balance of the food supply, the issue of the' gas balance'
arising out of the simultaneous spread of urbanization and industrialization of
industrial civilization has led from the flow of matter in the world to an issue
of another dimension. Fluid water and air go beyond borders to cause a climatic
change on a global scale. Naturally, the reduction of carbon dioxide becomes a
strategic index. The perception of humankind, standing at the top of the food
chain, led to a new Malthusian proposition, the issue of the accommodation for
which the ecosystem as a whole is responsible, including plants, animals and
microorganisms. The fundamental problem of the times arising out of the global
environmental problem is an all-out war for humankind, to avoid extinction
related to the
human ecology , and
not limited to dinosaurs and mammoths, or the recognition of a battle concerned
with changes in the ecology amidst global changes. This is an issue of survival
as a mode of life, as a species.
The second
perception is the question:
"Can humankind
continue to live together with the Earth?"
If man is the cause,
then man must do something about it. This is an academic perspective raised by
the United Nations, in particular, by UNESCO in its "Human Dimension Program of
Global Change,"(HDP). As a member of the Planning Committee of the International
Social Science Council (ISSC), UNESCO Committee representing the humanities and
social sciences, I am also responsible.
The fundamental
problem of the survival of the human species brought about by the global
environment issue is not merely an ecological issue of humankind as a species.
It is not a relation of conflict between the natural environment versus the
social environ- ment. After the collapse of the Berlin Wall, people came to
speak of the arrival of the era of human society. It goes without saying that
the discussion then centered on the culture of the human ecology itself,
transcending research in the natural sciences at a time when the condition of
existence of human beings and human society was being reexamined. Civilization,
which the ecology of human culture had produced, was indeed the defendant.
This is not the first
time that mankind recognized its own civilization as a defendant and attempted
to discuss it. In the wars of the 2Oth century, the conclusion of the
Nuremberg War Trials was that perhaps what should have been judged "may have
been human civilization itself." Naturally, the ultimate goal of the discussion
as a research plan of a human dimension was based on the results of a natural
scientific and phenomenological study of the survival of mankind as a species,
caused by the global environmental problem. Even before speaking of the survival
of the species, it had not been easy to reach the perception that such a
recognition was " a funda- mental problem that had been forgotten by modernity"
as something common to the world. Before going into a discussion on the essence
of the social sciences, the issue of the " original sin " or gou caused
by human survival which the social sciences that studies human society in which
one lives, has now become the fundamental problem of the species, or of "
civilization itself." The issue of the global environ- ment is, first of all, a
fundamental problem of the humanities and social sciences, of the survival of
the global system, which embodies humankind within it. It is a question of the
survival of the earth and of global life
Whether "civilization"
is able to maintain a culture as an ecology that guarantees its survival is the
goal of scientific research aimed at the "evolution of civilization: the
construction of a new civilization. When the goal of learning becomes to
discover such strength as a " culture of human ecology ;' this becomes the "
global systems management theory" as "eco-society theory" or the "eco-social
management theory" that reexamines the Buddhist idea of a finding a "divine
nature in all things." This was exemplified in the Ecology and Development
Program (EDP) beginning with the Manaus Conference in Brazil organized by
UNESCO. Yet the UN itself is also one order of civilization organized by modern
civilization. Although perceptions may be broadened, there is a limit to the
amount of reflection a civilization can have to reassess its own original sin.
Within ISSC, the International Federation of Social Science Organizations, IFSSO,
that represents the respective regions and countries comprising their Academies
and Science Councils, encouraged the following academic policy. This was to
mutually discover the "wisdom as the culture" held by the civilizations with
innumerable histories and societies. In an " age of mutual discovery: to come up
with policies that would contribute to the "construction of a sound human
society and the promotion of learning that contributes to its permanent
development." This was conveyed to other academic circles as "Social Sciences of
the World Point to Sound Development." Japan, as apparent from the Kyoto
Conference, is still far behind the trend of the world in this area, and its
level of perception needs to be enhanced.
Esssentially, the
fundamental problem of this age is:
"What kind of
civilization should human- kind build?"
As we go beyond the
reflections of the past century and face the start for the new millennium, I
must say that culture as human ecology which enables the global era, the era of
human society, including all religious worlds, is being put to a test. Under
what kind of civilization is humankind attempting to build the governability of
a global systems management? This indeed is the verification of a new
fundamental problem, the approach to a task that modernity had forgotten.
Condition of
Existence of Humanity and Human Society
Humankind is at a time
when it must reexamine the condition of existence of humanity as well as of
human society. We may say that this perception has now become common to the
world. Here, you
may ask, "we realize
all that, now do you have something new to tell us?"
And yet, is the
content of that fundamental problem the same as what has been passed down from
primitive society to the pioneers, masters and forerunners throughout human
history? Are the civilizations born and raised from the ages as they were?
How did the leaders
deal with that age (the fundamental problem of the age) in that particular
society (the provisional conditions of the age)? In order to inherit a
fundamental problem we must consider what is the current age, "the fundamental
problem of the age," and how does it differ from the task of the forerunner? In
order to truly inherit this, a verification of the fundamental problem is
needed. Then, for the first time, there is the inheritance, creation and
develop- ment of learning, and the culture and civilization throughout the ages
are established. In order to research a new fundamental problem, a verification
of the provisional conditions of contemporary times, of "the provisional
conditions of the age" is necessary. I consider this to be the work of the
'internal apprentice,' uchideshi, who co-creates with his master. On the
other hand, it is the 'external apprentice,' or sotodeshi, who inherits
the fundamental problem of the master as well as his attainments as they are and
works to pass them on to successors.
It can be likened to
the difference between the creator and the propagator, or the scholar and the
instructor. Regardless of whether it is Buddhism or not, if we continue to use
imported learning in all fields as they are, this will become a blind faith as
time passes, and we will only be burying ourselves in oblivion. As long as there
is a history and society, imports will also take part in the creation of the
birth of a new culture or civilization, as a new learning within the culture of
the new society. No matter how many imports we may collect, this will not
maintain a sound and permanent development of the human society. Only when an
academic society, religious order and denomination, or even learning places
itself in the trinity of development and progress of society, development and
progress of learning and the development and progress of academic societies, can
it maintain a sound, permanent growth and development.
Fortunately, the
fundamental problem of the condition of existence of humans and human society
still continues, but we must now be aware that that this is a task within the
continuation of human society as a culture or civilization, of humankind as a
species and ecological existence. The fundamental problem must develop and grow.
The spiritual peace of the individual is the spiritual peace of society, and
today, we must question the significance of the existence of humankind as a
species that supports the sound and permanent deyelopment of human society.
In addition to the new developments in the humanities and social sciences, there are developments based on new knowledge in the area of the natural sciences. Whether it is in social sciences, or the world of religious studies or philosophy, many of these fundamental problems have actualized from the ,vorld of thought. The advances in experiment with thought and scenario simulation based on demonstration are the socialization of such results. The globalization of this discussion on the evolution of norms and research continues. That is not all. In discussions of ecological research as a species to life forms, these have become universalized not only as life forms on earth, but transcending the earth. We view the discussions on water, the air, the global climate as a frame of a kaleidoscope representing a mandala cosmic view, leading to the discussion of the fluid cosmos theory extending to plasma currents. In the world of resources and energy, there is chemical decomposition as well as fluid dynamics, or the utilization of the gravity of other astronomical bodies. It was in 1967 that the Planning Agency of Japan declared this to be the age to think on one's o,vn; the borderless network society removed not only the fences between national borders and industries, but also those between academic societies and civilization. The exchanges of the respective histories and societies, cultures fostered in the diverse environments created an age of mutual discovery. The global era. The era of human society. The age of eco-society is promoting the formation of a new human civilization as a society of plural values. The exchange of various ,,'alues is about to form a new basis of existence of human society amidst the circulation of value space or the climatic change of the currency-based economy, which has become more fluid. While humankind as a species is making a new development from self-awareness to the awareness of relationships, the world of religious relations has already been actualized, social- ized, universalized to such an extent. What we have before us under the circumstances is the issue of how to create and maintain the fundamental problem of the age, the condition of existence and the significance of the human society beginning with individual humans, the condition of existence and significance as a species. This is to be followed by a verification of the provisional conditions under which this will be realized.
Securing the
Condition of Operation of the Human Society and Its Creation
We must now consider
again the conditions under which this will be attained. Nobody would deny that
the proof of an existence is that one "lives" and also that one "continues to
live." The object of study of the social sciences, in particular, economics, was
firstly, this fact of living. One must first be alive to seek for its
significance. Live as an individual. Live as a family. Live as a community or
society. Live as a race. Live as a species. Live as human society. What does it
mean to live? Economics first sought for the establishment of an "economic
subject." This was it. To escape from poverty. Economic self- sufficiency. There
was a way to economic independence beginning with private management to public
management. Outside of that, "to live" in terms of social science, political
science or law and administration meant freedom from control by power or money.
Freedom from confinement, control of one's free will. This was the establishment
of a "subjective subject (identity)." It was a free and democratic independence.
This was the common character that was finally being sought and formed among
diverse political cultures.
Some argue that it was
difficult to separate the two characters in the past history clearly, so let me
explain using a model. In the age centered on agriculture where the human
ecology was dependent on that of plants and animals, the human ecology and the
two aspects of production and consumption 01' what is to live, was also a
struggle with nature. This centered on the productivity of the land; thus, the
environment was outside of the perspective here. Authority , which was
equivalent to military might, was what supported the order of human society. In
the age of capital following the Industrial Revolu- tion, the protagonist who
supported the order of the human society, as a consequence of the foundation of
economic independence changing from land to capital productivity, was replaced
by the mobility of economic circulation rather than mobility due to military
order, as the kind of mobility for development within a social system had
changed. Authority was then equivalent to financial power. What the religious
world had forgotten was this great fluctuation in the motive power of human
society. We see the emergence of, for example, the funeral industry or religious
businesses, but with everything dependent on money this was a dying existence,
which could not be a moving power in society, a suicidal act. In order to
restore its originality, man had to wait for the Information Revolution or the
Sensitivity Revolution.
The second great shift
occurs after the arrival of the communica- tion society following the
Information Revolution, the age of knowledgism economy, and the value
circulation of the formation of subjective values precedes economic circulation.
"Subjectivity" which becomes the subjective identity, the sender and receiver in
communi- cation, must be a subjectivity that possesses both "economic
subjectivity" as well as "subjective subjectivity." It is a subject with a will.
This is the establishment of a view on societv , which sees every identity as a
legal entity, a view that is als~ seen in the discussion on NPOs today. Whether
an entity is a corporation or not, what circulates in the knowledgism society is
unique information and not mass-produced goods. The value circulation of
communication changes subjective values and promotes the creation of demand. The
effort to collect small consuming power to create demand is sought, so that as
long as one is alive, he will not be excluded. The supplying power to satisfy
this demand is created. The nearing of demand and supply creates a market and
produces autonomy of economic circulation. This is called a "takeoff." The way
in which man exerts subjective effort up to this point is the development
policy, and its mechanism is the development theory before takeoff development
(kaihatsu). The autonomy of this economic circulation is the moving power
of an economic social system. The action of operating this is the development
policy while the mechanism of operation is the development theory after takeoff
development (hat ten). The integration of living as an individual, and
living as a society amidst relations, establishes the motive power of the
development of an economic society. The repetition of 'kaihatsu'-takeoff-'hatten'
is the mechanism of continuous innovation in the living dynamism of human
society .
The moving power of
the operation of human society is estab- lished in this way, and possesses the
power for humankind to live as a society. \'\'hen the moving power of the
operation develops in this way, the subjective effort of human beings and the
moving power of the economic social system are integrated so that there is a
continual development of development, takeoff and growth. The recognition of
this dynamism of going beyond the individual and "living" as a society was
furthered. Here we can see the birth of "policy science." This signified that
the social sciences had come up with a method of social management or public
management in which all identities comprising a society could make policy
decisions. This promoted the survival of the society and its management on its
own, as well as forming policy identities in order to escape from poverty and
escape from oppression by power. A comprehensive policy science for human social
management had started amidst the integration of economics and management,
politics and law, and the social sciences. This was a resurrection of the
identity of human beings. The emergence and development of the environmental
problems followed on this base.
Even if economic
circulation is the economic moving power of the exchange of values, there is no
difference in the fact that the allocation of resources and energy for living is
the allocation of the amount of flow of resources and energy represented by
material flow due to investment. There is no change in the fact that the optimal
allocation of resources has always been a main theme of economics. The results
of economic circulation were also the themes of optimal distribution of
commodities and the optimal distribution of income. In addition, man-made
material circulation caused by the survival activities of humans themselves
became tremendous, leading to huge changes that cannot be absorbed completely by
the material circula- tion of nature. These changes are the changes in the
global environ- ment, which go beyond local pollution problems and destroy the
conditions of survival of the ecosystem of life bodies headed by human beings.
This is the global environmental problem. We must anticipate the results from
the area of the natural sciences in order to accurately obtain information on
this fact. The primary response to this development is a shift in subjective
values and the creation of new demand incorporating the perceptions arising from
response and recognition of the change into the value circulation. There is the
creation of supply in response. This must be furthered by changing the closeness
between supply and demand so that not only are new efforts toward development
made, but also the structure of the autonomy of the economic circulation itself
is altered.
This response is
referred to as a shift to a recycle-type industrial structure, or a shift to a
fluid-type economic social system, likened to the circulation of bodily fluids.
At this stage, the third important theme in economics, the theory of location or
position, experiences a major shift. This is the shift to the theory of network
location and system space. It develops from the issue of the allocation of
social capital related to transportation and communications to urban planning,
urban location and furthermore to the formation of environmental assets,
location of environmental capital and the restructuring of the economic and
social system. We finally arrive at the understanding that an economic, social
system with a great circulation that coordinates the circulation of values, the
economy of material, is built, and the dynamism of the development of human
society is managed centered on the management of the former. This dynamism
develops based on the respective cycles of development arising from the
megacycle theory, as the immense megacycle of human history developing from
agriculturalism, capitalism, knowledgism, sensitivity, moving from land to
capital, capital to knowledge, knowledge to sensitivity progresses. What is
important here is to remind ourselves that, as we understand the tasks of the
contemporary age, the academic world, which has fallen behind in this major
shift of the provisional construction of the times, has become forgotten in the
argument that such things have already been taken up in the history of theories.
It is true in any age that only a science that can create tomorrow and not just
distant history is worthy of referring to the contemporary age.
Beginning with the
development of human ecology theory and how to harmonize it with the theoretical
development of human economy and society , we ought to recognize ecosystems not
only in the living world of plants, animals and organisms in general, but in the
natural world of the earth. Let us conserve the existence of the multifarious
species and their ecologies together. The argument developed here is that,
unless we do so, we will not be able to seek a path of co-life with these
systems and the human society , nor the human ecology as a species, which stands
at the top of life forms. In the Manaus Conference, follows Rio De Janeiro, the
co-life of the human ecology and plant ecology was co-living with the forest
society represented by rain forests and the human society. By understanding that
the plant society of the forest has its own development theory just as human
society has its unique develop- ment theory, we attempted to consider the
resource balance and gas balance based on a model of two countries. Although
this requires human conjecture, the concept was to place the identity of plants
and its society on a level with human identity and its society and to view the
co-life of ecological development and the co-life of social development as
development of the eco-society. It was also an attempt to design an eco-society
space on top of the systems location of the development space of plants and
humans. Animism and primeval philosophical thought were realized in the
contemporary age, and it could be said that this was revived as a management
idea of the global system. The Renaissance was not a revival but an innovation.
Today, innovation is sought for in not only Buddhism but also the religious
world, which has created the norms for human ecology. If the verification of a
theme and the examination of the provisional construction are neglected, you
cannot have a science that leads the age.
If it is possible to realize the conditions of existence and operation for the management of the global system as an eco-society, what must next be reexamined is the condition of development of the human society.
If humans and human
society were to create and secure the conditions of existence on their own, they
would have to do this within the question of how humans should live, or continue
to live. Therefore, we must question what it is to live as human beings. It is
natural to go from living as an individual, to living as a society , as a
species, and how to live as a human society on top of the ecology. This question
gave rise to the securing and creation of the condition for operation of the
human society. Through development based on the moving power of human efforts
and the development based on the moving power of the social system created by
humans giving rise to the dynamism of continual development of development,
takeoff and growth, the condition for the operation of human society has been
secured and created. If there were to be a foundation for the permanence of life
of the human society, the condition for existence and the condition for
operation would indeed be two requisites. We often hear of arguments regarding
development and the economy, the economy and welfare, the economy and the
environment, which are conflicting and negating each other; nevertheless, these
are arguments based on misunderstanding of past phenomena or someone's vested
interests. In this age of communication following the Information Revolution,
development of the ability to survive in the knowledgism society is human
enlightenment. One reason why the importation and introduction of this concept
of development in the west may have been hindered was that it seemed a little
difficult to distinguish in the English vocabulary among the terms " develop-
ment, growth, enlightenment."
Facing the Revolution
of Sensitivity, of voice and visual images, which has brought forth questions on
the content of information and knowledge today, no one would doubt the
importance of intellectual enlightenment (keihatsu, a new concept of
development after the Sensitivity Revolution) based on a two-way exchange. The
megacycle has shifted from industrialization to a trend toward knowledge to
sensitivity. Economic circulation is reborn through continuous development;
however, where does human effort originate? Here is one example of a delay in
the provisionally constructed perception of the times.
What must be
questioned here is the condition of development as a sufficient condition. In
seeking for the source of human effort, it is clear that some have gone in the
direction of "animal spirit" (Jean Robinson, professor of growth theory at
Cambridge University) or, in more contemporary terms, in biological and
ecological backgrounds, while others have gone toward religious ethics (Max
Weber) and human spirituality. Professor Robinson attributed it to instinct, Max
Weber to Protestant diligence, while Confucianism attributed it to discipline
arising from piety. In the eco-society development theory today, both aspects
are considered as a culture of human ecology. I will conceptualize this source
of human effort as "human soundness" firstly, and continue. Let us understand
this as the contemporary version of the sound harmony between mind and body
since Greek times, or the human sentiment which seeks for the prosperity of
one's family and descendants in good health. Even as a slave in the Roman times,
citizens paid taxes on their farms; as employees, restoring the ability to make
one's own decisions in the knowledgism society of communication, finally
arriving at an age in which humans can live freely within society.
Today we have been
able to establish a way of living on our own human efforts, living as a species,
living as a society , as a human society, and enhanced the level to living
together with the earth. It is the way to utilize enlightenment (keihatsu)
as well as development (kaihatsu, hat ten) in the society in which
one lives. This is the flow beginning with arguments on human rights and the
right toward identity. Yet, on the other hand, in the age where the land was
equal to productive power, the order for life was the order of the land and
water (the environment was merely an attribute of this), the order of rule by
power. In the age when productive power was capital, the order was that of rule
by monetary power. In the age when produc- tive power was knowledge, disputes in
the rule of system networks arose. However, the changes in the moving power of a
social system that supports development enhanced its speed of obsolescence along
with advances in science and technology; it made land, capital and knowledge
old-fashioned while the speed of continual development increased. Services began
to playa larger role in the economy, the economy moved toward knowledge,
progressing further to sensitiza- tion, to more abstract assets and rights as
assets as human beings became more independent from material things. The
evaluation of human values was emphasized more while management ideals of
efficiency and fairness asserted from the ruling position began to lose their
absoluteness. This was an idea, which came after the takeoff.
In development based
on human effort, unless "human soundness is secured," intellectual production
cannot be maintained and neither the identification of responsibility nor
sensitivity nor the current situation takes place. After the takeoff we must
address scientific rationality such as efficiency and fairness as the moving
power of the operation of the system. The emotion of human effort does not
originate based on efficiency nor fairness by themselves. The emotion of human
effort seeking soundness is what gives rise to innovation and develops into a
new order. Hence the "securing of scientific normals." I will refer to options
and decision-making later. In the social management of humans, the management of
human society , the securing of human soundness in scientific normals and growth
in the development process, and their harmonious coordination is the first
condition of development when we speak of the permanence of sound development of
the human society. Starting from the small economic circulation of local
societies to the large management of a country, the management of the United
Nations society, to the management of human society itself, order or progress or
re- development is sought in all of the options existing. This leads to the
enhancement of biological or ecological motivation, or spiritual motivation as a
source of human effort, which gradually spreads to areas where the concept of
human soundness is not yet respected. As this new way of thinking becomes
accepted in the less developed areas, subjective effort is born. It is evident
that the history of abolishing discrimination or the regression of rule by state
or monetary power originated at such transition points.
As the bio-ecological
aspect of human society and the human spiritual aspect experience such
megacycles, transcending the level of animism, it develops into a "science as
the culture of human ecology" living together with the earth. Just as we discuss
what the culture of human ecology is, recognizing subjective will in plants,
animals, all living forms and the natural circulation itself as an individual,
and as a group, we cannot discuss co-life with them if we do not consider that
they also possess an identity of ecological culture that transcends biology and
ecology. This is the theory of global system management beginning with the EDP.
It starts with the idea that, if humans as a species at the top of the food
chain are to discuss the conservation of diverse species, we must naturally take
the above into consideration. With regard to the balance of oxygen and carbon
dioxide, the understanding that the human society is now being confronted with a
Magna Carta from the plant world, how to conjecture the will of other species,
how to communicate with them, are some of the numerous research topics arising
in this area. Setting up several corporations who take the indirect productivity
method with a goal to preserve forests and rivers in this industrial society in
an attempt to build a new local industry society that goes beyond the recycle
industry structure is also an approach being undertaken today.
The second condition
for growth is the attainment of ecological co-life as a condition of development
of the eco-society. In this way the global society which includes the human
society becomes a global society as an eco-society system. If it is the human
society, which stands at the peak of eco-society management as a management
theory of the global system, these first and second conditions of development
must be created and maintained. This means that, in comparison to the age that
saw the rise and fall of countless cultures and civilizations due to the
geographic and historic conditions, this time one world must necessarily be
established upon a culture that has far more diverse and multi-dimensional
histories, societies and environments. The International Federation of Social
Science Organizations (IFSSO) statement to promote the sciences that contribute
to the permanence of the construction and development of a sound human society
in mutual discovery is upheld here as well.
There was the discussion of Interfutures in relation to Common Future; what drives the choice of something as progress among these various developments? Even if human soundness were made a condition, what sort of human effort can be born out of that? It is true that, in that past, this may have been caused by religious fervor. However, does that still remain true today? In the view of the ecological history of humans, there is the dynamism of continual development of the trend toward knowledge, then sensitivity; as long as we speak of eco-social co-life, it is natural to view that these also evolve and elevate themselves as they mutually respond to each other's sensitivity within a greater motivation.
As explained in the
section on the establishment of policy science, economics, which points only to
escape from poverty, will not serve as social management today. The subjective
independence of human soundness stands upon economic independence and subjective
independence. The unit of communication is this human subjectivity. The receiver
and consumer of information are, at the same time, the sender and producer of
the information. This two-way setup is rapidly eliminating the
differentiation between the social classes of producer and consumer, capitalist
and worker, the ruler and the ruled. The concept of rich and poor cannot be
viewed from the income standard or asset standard. The mentality of the Third
World is also changing so that they value a first-rate citizen with an annual
income of 200 dollars rather than a second-rate citizen who earns la,aaa dollars
a year. The recognition that wealth is productivity and the active power (moving
power) of society is leading to confidence in the "intellect" as the active
power of a race rather than knowledge. Knowing that Japan was also poor, so we
can do it, too, is the attitude. Development efforts expressed as human effort
motivated from the above are driving back the rule of vested interests. This is
not the Berlin Wall; however, the idea of the borderless is the same in the
academic world as well. Internet communication is transcending the fences of the
academic societies, leading to new developments. We are literally "talking with
the world." The perception that the power of development lies in the moving
power of a social system like an economic circulation whether the circulation is
at the level of bicycles, or of motorcycles, is giving rise to a class for those
who do not take GNP as a criterion for being 'advanced' or 'developing,' but
view that its vitality is equal to wealth. In the response to carbon dioxide gas
as well, we can see the mentality of those who consider themselves 'advanced.'
Regarding the evaluation of living standards, QOL, " quality of life," is the
goal and the standard of action. Its contents are now shifting from the "
qualitative standard of daily life" to the " qualitative standard of life," so
that today in corporate and community level discussions, people speak of MOL,
"meaning of life." It is an age in which this emerges from the individual level
to the guidelines toward the revitalization of local areas to the national
economy. What used to be a religious theme of seeking for the "meaning of human
existence" is now heard in election speeches even, questioning what the
characteristics of "Our Town" are, or the identity of a local community
including the natural and social environs.
Throughout the world,
we hear similar discussions of moving from quantitative to qualitative
development that involves the cultural norms, as well as the traditions and
religions of an area. We may say that such discussions, going beyond race or
national boundary, are forming a new civilization that develops on the system
responses of a cultural world, and the conflicts among the cultures giving rise
to currents that will lead to the genesis of a new civiliza- tion.
Regarding how to
manage the moving power of the greater circulation of values, the economy, and
matter, it has already been substantiated that the human development efforts
arising out of these will alter the evaluation of values and the subjective
social system, an option for progress. This is past the initial stage of
development, and now in the midst of socialization, internationalization, eco-
socialization and universalization.
When it comes to the
human social management within the global system as an eco-society , how do we
integrate this development in the respective areas and lead it toward a global
society , a human society? We must not merely say that there are endless topics
for scientific research, but go beyond the "real problem" that the earth may be
destroyed, and build a culture of human ecology as a species. Carrying numerous
species as an eco-society , we will still seek for the permanence of sound
development for human society. The need to question the significance of human
existence as a species becomes the way to aspire to learning. However, if this
does not turn out to be otherworldly religious studies or philosophy, but a
"real problem," what would you do? If this were the building of a learning that
could be called the culture of human ecology to advance the management of the
global system as eco-society management, wouldn't it be the way to a good life
and to repay the grace of Buddha by promoting the way and contributing to the
advancement of that learning? Knowing what the actual problem is, wouldn't the
way of training be to work daily to transfer the advances of that learning to
the advances of society?
What is Synthesis
in Science?
We ought to aim to assure the permanence of the sound development of human society through the development of a science that can be called the management of the global system as an eco- society or the culture of human ecology of human society. Human effort in the way of learning is not something that started today. We have much tradition and the academic inheritance of our forefathers. To inherit these properly and utilize them today is also a way of learning. A new science will be raised only upon such a foundation. If a new paradigm is to be created out of the freedom of a paradigm shift of learning in the traditional sciences let me verify a part of the results of comprehensive policy science within the management of the global system regarding the question, "What is Synthesis in Science?" I will summarize this in the following.
The statement of purpose of the departments of general policy science or departments of general culture, general human sciences, as well as the general policies, general measures, general plans related to the government administration, similar to discussions at the UN or the World Bank, begin with comprehensive synthesis first. Starting with how to systematize the taxonomy which includes everything, they move from the study of time and spatial location of cost efficiency to the level of integrated synthesis in the research of policy planning. This is the same in the case of the respective sciences, which develop into an integrated model after fences are removed in interdisciplinary synthesis. The flow from a complex system to systems integration is one of these, which is partially introduced in Japan as a mathematical model of complex systems.
Synthesis of
non-exclusion (synthesis of universality)
This is a synthesis
that does not exclude anyone of the identities comprising a society. This is
possible when a social system is viewed from every aspect, such as the economic
circulation mechanism of production, exchange, distribution and consumption, as
a general model. When the creation of demand, creation of supply and the
closeness of supply and demand are achieved as a theory of market creation, it
becomes possible to create the moving power that includes everything that exists
and lives without exclusion, and to expand cognition. This is the open synthesis
of universality in the subject and function. It gave rise to a new temporal
spatial design including abstract space such as legal space. This incorporates
the eco-society design, for instance, which realizes the co-life of diverse
species.
Reversal of subjectivity and objectivity and their synthesis (synthe- sis of
mutual discovery)
With regard to all of the identities comprising society, the number of systems of objective worlds will be equivalent to the number of subjects who claim they have seen others from an objective view- point. This is true of IFSSO's stance, which holds that there is mutual discovery of cultures and civilizations among all of the histories, societies and environments of the world, giving rise to a new era. What was termed objectivity in the natural sciences has now merely been recognized in human society. The values recognized by humans can also be sublimated as social values in an eco-society. This leads to a great shift in theories of international relations and social relations. It is the same in the relations among the various sciences as well. The goal of humankind must be to subordinate one's subjective values to social values of the eco-society and act as a species at the ecological top. This is what would make Japan a country of virtue. And humankind a species with virtue.
Reversal of
principle and anti-principle and their synthesis (synthesis of dynamism)
In deciding upon an
evaluation option, based on cognition or sensitization, even if the majority
principle of 51% were attained, it would be difficult to attain 80% support. The
principle of anti- principle works so that the reaction becomes union and union
becomes reaction, offsetting each other. In the world of sound human effort,
after the existence of the anti-principle and the principle and the reversal is
synthesized, continual development, the dynamism of continual reform, is
established. In a revolution without reaction or under suppression, there can be
no continuation of being. The death of an individual body does not lead to the
survival of a species. When we speak of the creation and securing of the
condition of existence, this synthesis is what harmonizes the "aged species" and
"long life as a species." To put it more practically, any policy plan including,
e.g., the Summit Plan, must possess a dynamism that embodies continuous
development in its planning administration. Otherwise it will be difficult to
continue to win the support of many. The governability of the human society must
be built on a civiliza- tion, which enables such a planning administrative
method. The "long life" as an eco-society must be continued to be studied as a
central problem of planning administration.
Total synthesis
(one but many; many but one: a holonic synthesis)
A systems integration
of the infinitesimal to infinity. This idea was realized largely with the
research on DNA and the brain. The infinitesimal cannot be recognized, but it
"exists." The quantity, or the solidity and content of this existence,
determines the content and standard of response, or the strength to induce human
efforts or emotions. The idea that a cell has a brain, or that the entire
universe has one, is no longer just an abstract or hypothesis to consider.
Including all of the different kinds of synthesis mentioned thus far, the
relationship between the will and a system is called a total synthesis, or a
holonic synthesis; research in using this as a principle of explaining the
conditions of existence, operation and development in an eco-society has also
progressed. It is a fact that in the sensitization, principles to explain what
have been referred to as supernatural phenomena are being sought. However, how
such research is related to the mechanism of autonomous reform comprising the
source of human effort and passion, or harmony of ecological co-life of the
eco-society, is still in the realm of thought and experimentation. Yet, in order
to provide scenarios for experimenting with thought, there must be contributions
made from the area of religious studies and philosophy as human sciences. To
escape into the history of the intellectual and old practices, confining it to
the Buddhist world is not the job of an 'uchideshi' apprentice who will
inherit the fundamental problems of his master. It is the 'sotodeshi' who
will pass on the teachings with gratitude toward the master that he is living in
connection with the Buddha. The gratitude must give rise to a response. The
response produces the change of mentality (recognition and will), and in turn to
human effort toward development.
What the synthesis of
such learning as a whole aims at must be the human civilization of living
together with the earth.
We
question the significance of human existence. Furthermore, we question the
meaning of the existence of human society as a species. My position is to convey
the fact that this fundamental problem has become a reality that is extremely
close to a Buddhist philosophical question, and to express my congratulations
and expectations for the future. The way of pursuing the science that may be
called a culture of human ecology as a science of global system management in an
eco-society , is not limited to a Buddhist. It is a path in search and path of
practice incorporating the entire religious world; thus, I have spoken as one in
the same line of learning, facing the global environmental problem, and have
referred to the declarations of the World Conference of Religions as well.
As for
myself, I consider the Buddhist leader, Nichiren, who promoted the search for
inner peace and peace of the nation through righteousness, to be one of the
great pioneers of social science, with the viewpoint of a scholar who seeks for
the construction of a culture and civilization of a new humankind based on a new
awareness. The global system management theory as an eco-society, which began
from the issue of the global environment, is the fundamental problem of bringing
the human society to stand independently and found their own world in mutual
discovery.
This
paper was prepared based on a speech delivered on Novem- ber 11, 1999 at an open
Symposium commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Buddhist Studies Department
of the Rissho University, at its Ishibashi Tanzan Auditorium. The title of the
Symposium was "Buddhism and the Environment." The paper has since been presented
in Japanese to the Japan Science Council and other academic organizations. It
has been translated into Chinese as well. Some revision of language and
additions has been made for the English version to be presented to IFSSO-ISSC.
Fujii,
Takashi. "What are the HDP (Human Dimension Program of Global Change)," Bonn,
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Fujii,
Takashi. "Ecology and Development," Societe et Energie Pub. by UNESCO, pp.
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Taskshi Fujii
is at Futures Studies Mannermaa Ltd., Piispanristi, Finland
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