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HYDERABAD
DECLARATION OF INTERNATIONAL PHILOSOPHERS FOR PEACE AND THE PREVENTION OF NUCLEAR OMNICIDE
(IPPPNO) JANUARY, 2014
Meeting in India, under the aegis of the
Grand Global Peace Meet, as International Philosophers for Peace from Europe,
Russia and the Americas, we have determined to call our philosophical colleagues
and the general public around the world to the witness of IPPNO to the
possibility of peace through dialogue and rational research.
We urge our philosophical colleagues
in all cultures, religions and geographical and national and linguistic
contexts, to bear witness to the possibility of a peaceful human culture and civilisation
based on reason, and the love of wisdom, and to use education, research and
scholarship to resolve disputes rather than force and violence.
We are mindful of the current
conflicts going on worldwide which involve loss of life, whther in civil conflicts,
or ongoing terrorist incidents such as the recent shooting of satirical journalists
in Paris, the murder of schoolchildren in Pakistan and Nigeria and beheadings and fighting in Syria and Iraq and all such like
events. We ask that all responsible intellectuals worldwide to show
leadership in isolating and exposing the intellectual flaws in all ideologies
that propose violence as an appropriate strategy for resolving ideological
and religious differences. Each religions tradition on the planet ultimately recognises
that the powers of reason, enlightenment and love have sovereignty over those
of violent rhetoric, forceful persuasion and
coercive intimidation. Instead of using terror to bully and frighten other
believers, we urge that common dialogues take place involving evidence,
logic, reason and the submission of ultimate truth claims to the test of
philosophical analysis.
We urge our fellow human beings to
choose to live in a world where study, research, learning, respect for
wisdom, and love of truth replace the egocentric promotion of one’s own
cultural values and epistemic absolutisms.
We urge each culture, nation and
region of earth to recognise, value and appreciate its own and others’
philosophical systems and teachings. We urge that philosophical education be
included in both secondary and tertiary educational curricula, as being conducive
to creating future generation who value morality and philosophical wisdom as
much as techne and know-how. We
commend UNESCO’s recommendations on philosophical education.
Cultures of philosophy have arisen in
difficult times in man’s past: the golden age of Greek philosophical enlightenment
arose in the midst of wars; the Confucian and Taoist sages arose during the
era of Warring States; Hindu, Buddhist and Jain enlightenment teachings have
arisen against a backdrop of continual wars and conflicts. The great
philosophical achievements of Jewish, Christian and Islamic thought have
likewise carried on in spite of a backdrop of warfare and violence. The
European enlightenment was born out of a continent sick of bloodshed, and the
30 years’ war, in which thinkers and philosophers articulated the ideals of
universal and perpetual peace as a prospect for man’s historical progression
from barbarism to a society based on the exercise of civic reason.
After the tragedies of World War One and
World War Two, the globe is still bedevilled by international, intercultural
and interreligious conflicts and violence. As officers of International
Philosophers for Peace (IIPPPNO) we are issuing a call for our philosophical
colleagues in Syria, Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Ukraine and Russia,
Afghanistan, and Kashmir, to come together in a spirt of intense inquiry
towards truth, and to submit the rival claims of political factions,
religious perspectives, and social movements, to the court of reason. We
believe it is possible that the disputes effecting these countries and territories
can be analysed, rationally and historically, and that in all conflicts there
needs to be a recommitment to moderation, compromise and intellectual
humility. By intensive education in the causes and consequences of such
conflicts, by requiring religious and political leaders to themselves submit
to educational processes, by conducting intensive training work in non-violent
communication and dialogue, and by applying good will and imaginal
intelligence we strongly believe these conflicts can be resolved
harmoniously.
International Philosophers for Peace pledges
to work with any and all philosophical colleagues, factions, traditions,
lineages and instruments, in order to replace ongoing violence and conflict
with philosophical dialogue, dialectic and intellectual discourse. Instead of
firing bullets, let us fire off pamphlets, instead of dropping bombs, let us
drop bombshells of reason, instead of sending torpedoes, let us issue
wholesale barrages of enlightenment and love against all who say that violence
is the answer, and that war and terror and unreason are the new deities who
should now be worshipped. Let us find new structural political solutions to
the problems of the world, such as by strengthening the UN and by exploring
alternatives such as the World Constitution for the Federation of Earth.
Earth’s problems are interconnected (human rights, environment, poverty,
militarism, religious fanaticism, corruption, violence) therefore we need
joined-up solutions that can address these problems holistically.
We denounce the idolatry of violence, even
if masked by a veil of pseudo-piety. We denounce all who invoke the name of
the Sublime as a justification for acts of grotesque cruelty and barbarism,
and we insist instead that mankind learn to worship again with an actually
justifiable piety in a way in which both reason and faith can be reconciled,
and in which our humanity, our doubts, our hesitancies, are not seen as
evidence of spiritual weakness, but rather, in the Socratic sense, as
evidence of spiritual strength.
Concretely, we call on the educational
authorities in all regions to include deeper philosophical and ethical
content in their curriculums. Let children and young minds be adorned and
beautified by their initiation into the great philosophical heritage of
mankind, across all cultural, linguistic and spiritual traditions. The 9 petalled
flower of peace can only arise once such seeds of wisdom are implanted early
in the mind of today’s youth, so that tomorrow’s elders shall not weep in
sorrow as they patrol the graves of the as yet unborn.
We recognise that philosophy, as the
love of wisdom, manifests in many spheres of knowledge and action, including
political philosophy, social philosophy, economic, environment, legal,
aesthetic, psychological, historical, religious and scientific philosophy. We
encourage all who work in these diverse branches of philosophy to consider
how their work can best contribute to the advancement of a world of peace.
Philosophy itself has many sub-divisions, such as metaphysics, ontology,
epistemology, logic, ethics, phenomenology, etc. and we encourage all who
work in these interconneted fields of philosophical knowledge to consider how
their work can best advance the case of peace.
Likewise, to the many social scientists,
experts and researchers working in branches of peace studies and conflict
research, investigating fields such as conflict resolution, conflict
analysis, non-violence, peace research etc. we urge that they also include
the philosophical dimensions and implications of their research, and make the
fruits and findings of their pioneering research available to the general
educated public in ways they can make us of.
For philosophy is too important to be
left simply to the philosophers:
artists, musicians, poets, writers, teachers, cultural figures, politicians,
photographers, film-makers, novelists, scientists, web-designers, technological
innovators, inventors, home-makers, parents, students, psychotherapists,
medical doctors, economists, business leaders, engineers, dancers, satirists,
comedians, celebrities… all have a role to play in co-creating a world in
which the love of wisdom is valued, and philosophical reason, enlightenment, subtlety
of mind and intellectual power, and beauty of spiritual attainments, are esteemed and appreciated more than sheer strength or power, might,
violence and killing force. As representatives of International Philosophers
for Peace therefore we pledge to collaborate with all groups, NGO’s, and
agencies that will cooperate with us in advancing the application of
philosophical and dialectical intelligence to the civic and social violence
currently affecting the planet in numerous regions.
We also remind colleagues that IIPPNO
was founded in 1983 at a time in recent history when a third world nuclear
war seemed a not impossible prospect to many minds, and IPPNO played an important
role in defusing tensions by arranging pioneering East-West philosophical
intellectual diplomacy that helped end the cold war in Europe in 1990. But we
remind colleagues that nuclear weapons remain a scourge on the planet, and
are proliferating, and remain a threat to the long term security of humanity through
accidental, environmental and medical negative impacts as long as they remain
in military arsenals around the world as a weapon of last resort. We commend
the current work of international legal bodies to strengthen the existing findings
of the International Court of Justice, that nuclear weapons are essentially
illegal under international law, and we urge all nations worldwide without
exception to significantly reduce their nuclear arsenals simultaneously by a
general and universal commitment to nuclear disarmament involving all
possessor nations without exception. This will free up financial resources
for peacemaking.
Finally, we also urge all philosophers,
at whatever level of their professional development, whether serving in
education, academia or research contexts, to affiliate their work with that
of International Philosophers for Peace and to join our organisation in its
efforts to concentrate minds on the serious task of articulating and devising
a comprehensive philosophical approach to conflict resolution, mediation,
reconciliation and peace worldwide.
Co-Signed: Dr Thomas Clough Daffern (International Coordinator, International
Philosophers for Peace, UK)
Prof
Alexander Chumakov (Russian Coordinator, International Philosophers for Peace,
Moscow, Russia)
Prof
Glen T Martin (International President, International Philosophers for Peace,
USA)
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