Political Science: Peace Solutions:
From
Common to Common Noun, Life and Love:
by
Dr. Yang-Pyo Hong,
Professor Emeritus
I. Peace is being threatened
seriously and eminently. Rapidly
advanced weaponry technology in fierce competition including nuclear and
bio-chemical arms can terminate human and all creatures. War deaths are
increasing, and will be "4,050 million in 2000-2050 years, 40.5% of world
population" (Clarke 1972). There are so many causes of wars. However, many
say, including me, wars are escalated phenomena from the subtle connection with
complex barrage of social problems and maladies.
I want to start my paper
under the above assumption of social maladies. Some specialists of war/peace
assert that individual aggression, hostility, growth of good wills, love and
sublimation are "abysmally inadequate remedy" (Flower 1978). Some say
the causes of war are multiple and socio-institutional: a total reconstruction
of society and of the consequent interrelations between individual and social
determinants are required (Dewey 1922).
I am sure that to anyhow eliminate, reduce, reconstruct, change or
control those social problems such as hostility, selfishness, greed, and
violence are themselves better ways to peace and life. We say that absence of
war (no war) is peace. But can we feel peace in a state of no war? We can never
go out midnight alone with a big bundle of cash in hand. Can we let my children
go out in midnight? In
While peace is both
individualistic communal, subjective and objective, then we can never arrive or
get it, but may go closer than before. How may say or console an individual who
is in deadly agony dying cancer, starving, living alone with the lost of all
family members.
The peace and war are two
opposite ends of a continuum. There are countless stages and problems between
the two. There are no pure and complete models of peace and war. Important is
only closer to them. As 'love is between two ends of beauty and ugliness'
(Plato, Symposium), our peaceful reality is, I think, the issue of closer
or further to the two ends of a continuum. Therefore, we should make our effort
to move our world closer or better to the peace end.
II. Let us start our study
from common noun and end to common noun. I think people usually start from
proper noun, and end only with partially common noun. People starts from
“I" (such as American John, Korean Kim, Iraqi Abdullah), goes to his/her
society of America, Korea or Iraq in one’s culture, and tries to arrive finally
at the goal of human with short comments. These procedures are too long to
arrive at final truth, too complicate and hard, and make the researchers to
fall easily in his cultural egoism or chauvinism, or leads to the conclusion of
his own proper noun in superficial common, such as a common under Western, Eastern, Kantian, Christian
and Muslim Idea. Many social scientists study in their own environments and
hurry to conclude their version of nationalism and particular ideas under the
universal and common science.
Truth, that many scholarly
institutions and universities study to find, is common to every ones, then
belonged to common noun. Almost all the names of university departments, such
as philosophy, music, physiology, chemistry, law, biology and medicine are
common noun. Mozart, Chopin, Plato,
We can communicate and
correspond much more easily and safely with common names and nouns than with
proper nouns. It may help to shorten to pass thru real object of truth and
peace. Many wars are fought against different ideas and values in proper
nouns. Many studies start often only
from stage 1 of <fig. 1>, conclude within them and
try superficially to go further.
We need, of coarse, countless data of those
proper nouns from stage 1 throughout 4. But
important is our strong and determined will to start from the common noun of
common truth and assumption.
III.
Then we need to go to stage 1
of "common life." What are the life, and the world of life including
my life? Shunzi Mizhara defines life as following: life is an organism to
include nucleic acid and protein (prion), and conducts self-reproduction under
certain environments. However this definition is nothing but a partial one,
limited only in the explanation of body of flesh (Mizhara 1988). We need much
more complicated explaining of spirit or mind, and of great external power of
moving life and whole universe. I will draw these three components as following
of <fig. 2>:
We may ambiguously introduce
our body alone, which is a material and energy part of man. The world of mind belongs to metaphysics.
However, the world of mind is still a small part of life, and needs to
introduce the great external power who moves the mind and body. The highest
external power may be "the great spiritual existence behind the
universe" (Toynbee 1971) or some metaphysical control power of the
universe.
Life is the highest value in
all living creatures, and the human life is unique from all other organisms,
"dominant of dominants" (Hawley 1950), infinite, absolute, and
objective value (Kant), "imago Dei (God's image)," God's children,
more important than the world (Bible), "little cosmos" (romanticism),
and a 'original and same root of all universe' (Buddhism). God created all
organisms by words but built the human by His hands, and forgot the His rule of
creatures and ordered the man to "go in your will" (Mirandole 1486).
It is said to be "big mistake." He himself violated His rule. God
could not enjoy His wonderful cosmos alone, needed His friends to enjoy
together (Mirandole 1486). Human is God's friend and autonomous being (Sartre
1970). Human life has infinite potentiality to endlessly develop more and more, unique individuals, spiritual
existence, and a cosmos.
Human life is communal one,
interrelated and interdependent with all existences, symbiotic (sym=together,
biotic=live) and unique. None can be replaced of the unique individual.
The life is a cosmological
existence. Trillions of planets in hundreds billions of solar systems can move
and keep their orbits with shrinking and expanding in the limit of
"critical values," then help our lives to live safely. Hawking said
that the cosmos is moving "anthropologically." It is therefore cosmos
in macroscopic view, and but chaos in microscopic (Hawking 1996).
All living creatures are in
"web of life" (
Buddhism says that all
universal existences, such as ego (me), man (other man), life (all living
creatures), and existence (matters) are “communal life” and communal meanings
as <fig 3>, and then there cannot be ego, egoism or "ego-fixation"
(Freud). There is no image of ego, nor men, life and existence images. The
material scope and history is much larger and longer, which is more than
99.99…times than life and ego. Some one compared the history of earth to one
hour’s clock. Life is less than 10 seconds, and the human life is less than one
second. Human life is then 1/3,600th of the history of earth.
The scientists cannot observe
and treat these 'web of life' or communal cosmos alone. The scientific
domination of the universe of today is major cause of contemporary crisis of
life. We should, of course, observe the world of life not only scientifically,
but revere spiritually and sing in poetic passions. We all have poetic passions for peace. We can
hardly grasp the plentiful, plural and mysterious meanings of life, and then it
belongs to agnosticism. The Prajnaparamitta of Buddhism means of
complete and supreme wisdom of life arrived at Nirvana.
Peace is a sort of bio-philia
(love of life), when the value of life is revered in the highest, otherwise.
And war is a state of necro-philia (love of death), when the dignity of life is
terribly debased. Carrel said that during world war periods, all age-old rules
of life were definitely abandoned. Societies were dominated by delusions in war
times, of sentiments and intelligence were over ridden. Even in liberalistic
ideology, such liberal delusions were rampant.
The laws of survival of the
fittest and natural selection may be applied in biological world, but never in
human world. The weakest should rather be protected more by the society and the
government than the strong. The survival of the fittest can easily be degraded
to political terrorism and racism of millions of holocaust. Hitler, Stalin, and
even some leaders of religious zealots are immune to life of individual
dignity. Welfare system of liberty-equality of democracy guaranteed and is
based on individual dignity and the weak' priority. People are easily attracted
by some revolutionary ideologies which are reluctant and immune to the violence
and human death. Many young are feverish to Jihad and Holy War, and easily
turned out to be the prey of war mongers or militants. There are hundreds
thousand of child militias which have jumped into civil wars in the world.
There are some important and
great persons of history. But they also contributed to the violence and
degradation of life. We may say that for Darwin, Hegel and Marx, violence is
good if only to contribute to their ideal world (Finkielkraut 1997). It is very
important to remember that many key values and terms such as 'love,' 'defense,'
and 'justice,' of a few examples may divide to two different poles of peace and
war unless they develop to the right ways of their essence. Under an excuse of
peace and defense, major nations have pursued "peace through arms," and
"massive deterrent, retaliation, overkill, and sufficiency" (Kuehl
1978). Life should develop or change to
common life.
IV.
Some Italian soldiers
infiltrated into their enemy's camp midnight, and were surprised at their
opponent soldiers’ laughing, sipping of coffee, dancing and talking loudly.
"Oh! They are exactly same as us." The Italian soldiers felt and
confirmed "common men." Henri Dunant of Red Cross establisher was
shocked at the ailing and dying of 40,000 soldiers in Solferino. They could not
get 'happy and dignitary death' on the battle field. Dunant and many
Castiliones girls gave water, helped and cured the dying soldiers as common men
and common brotherly love. Dunant’s group felt "Tutsi, fatally" (we
are all brothers and sisters) (Finkielkraut 1997). The world helped millions of
dying and starving people in Tsunami wave of
Love is our life, earth and
universe. When we say that "God is love," it covers our whole of
life, the world and the universe. Plato said the love in his wonderful Symposium
and Phaedrus. I am surprised at the fact there are so few systematic
studies and works of love in the history of philosophy. Habib said that only
two of Plato and Rousseau did it in the world of philosophy. He said that the
love has continuously been object of contempt. Philosophical thinking has
always distinguished, criticized and decided the ranking. In the process of
those works, love is getting far away (Habib 2003). The fields of love in Symposium
are beauty, good, justice, softness, knowledge and wisdom, loving and being
loved, conception, eternity and spiritual god. Love with Eros prefers soft to
hard. When he touches any things, they turn to soft, poems, music and love.
Many peoples in contemporary world, particularly children, enjoy mad, tough and
violent. How can we expect the nonviolent and peaceful world in the violent
cultures? "Blessed are the meek." (Matthew 5:6). Proprieties or
manners are valued in the highest morals in Confucianism and orient cultures.
The manners are, I think, just outer and active expressions of morality. And
then war or hostile quarrel is, I think, the escalated toughness.
I drew "a diagram of
progress of men" as <fig. 4> with the reference of Form’s The
Heart of Men. I simplified the Form’s. I put good, humane, freedom, peace,
progress and rationality in a syndrome of good , and put the opposite of
the former of inorganic, determined, war, retrogression and irrationality in
syndrome of evil (Hong 1993).
When we criticize the war
generally, how can we say it is good? In this age mass destruction and human
extermination, it is evil and primary evils. I do not agree with the "just
war" like Erasmus. How can human expect the paradise of peace on going to
the way to the volcano of arms competition? We are now going to the
"syndrome of evil" of war. We should now turn around of our direction
to peace and good without hesitation.
Plato belonged “loving”
rather than “being loved” to god's world. The loving is happy, and needs not to
be discouraged at the loved one's ill treatment or turning out to be ugliness,
because he or she did merciful works.
All discourses of love at the
participants of symposium are merged to Socrates, and concluded by Diotima
of Eros' messenger. The core and final issue of the love of Symposium is
concerned to true and eternal beauty. Socrates and Diotima’s overall form of
this argument is as following:
1) Love
or desire is relational, and expresses lack or deficiency; love is not
beautiful but desire of beauty (199c-201c). 2) Diotima introduces the category
of intermediate or mediating entities. Love, seen as a `spirit,' meditating
between mortal and immortal, combines need and resource (201e-204c). 3) Diotima
analyses love as expressing a more fundamental desire: perpetual possession of the good or happiness
(204d-206a).
A flower, a young and
beautiful girl, or a perfect voice of soprano is beautiful, but what will these
be 100 years' later? Even through the
impregnation, human and all other creatures have tried deadly hard to maintain
eternality of their species, but we will definitely feel sorrowful of our
death. Then Plato said "there is no good or beauty."
We may feel and accept the
eternal love through spirit or god's messenger. But it, the eternal love, is
still ambiguous, and we can sense it hardly like a beautiful lover in my arms
now. However I am certain that when I love someone or something deeply to the
uttermost, the love guides or leads to eternality or true love. Love, in its
essence, develops and changes endlessly, never fixes at someone or something.
If we fix or fall in any particular things or proper noun, we can live no more.
Then we can say that love is helpful in wedding but no helpful in tennis
playing (Talmud).
V.
I wish to restore of co- and
common for the world peace. Many proper nouns have also their meanings, and may
change to common nouns. When we talk and exchange with other groups in common
nouns and values, we can shorten and arrive more easily to the truth, common
goals and peace. Individualities, group identity, nationality, different
cultures, religions, selected peoples and almost of all other categorized
proper nouns are, I think, existent for coordinating to and producing of the
better co or common. In order to build the world peace, we have often heard of
total reconstruction of society for peace.
One of the definite ways of
the total reconstruction is the democratization. We are happy to get many
studies of "democratic peace" recently (Bruce Russet, Nil Peter
Gleditsch, Roy Macridis, F. Hayek, and Francis Fukuyama). The research of
democratic peace got the conclusion as following: 1)democratic countries are
more peaceful internally than dictatorial ones, 2)democratic countries usually
do not or less fight each other than authoritarian ones, and 3) democratized
world is more peaceful than authorized world. Democracy is based on the human
right of liberty, equality and charity, and general or common will. However
totalitarian dictatorship is based on a super man and a super man's will.
Democracy is then very hard to turn to total war due to the hard and long
procedures to get people's consent of the war.
The core and minimum
standards of democratic system are freedom of speech and peaceful transfer of
government power, in another word, regular change of government by people's
consent of vote. The two objects of the freedom of speech are laid in happiness
and in almost only ways to truth (J. S. Mill). Truth is a sort of common will.
Of coarse the democratization is not almighty or all possible. We need to
develop or change our mind and spirit. But without free and open discussion,
dialogue and self reflection, how may we get common will and go nearer to
peace? I am sure that if all the students of the world gather together in free
environments and enjoy lovely and open forum for long, it will get a much
better ways to peace. We were born a man, in other words, started from common
noun of man, and thereafter given individual's names, got membership of many
organizations, became a citizen of nationalities and lived in cultural
categories. All other proper nouns of categories of organizations,
nationalities and cultures are, of coarse, important data on the way to common
noun of man, life and love, but the former proper nouns are existent for the
latter of common noun and truth. All are also changing and progressing
eternally. But at what and where do all these changes will arrive? It is, they
say, finally nothing, empty, void or zero (Buddhism). "Color is empty, the
empty is color, color is no different from empty, the empty is no different
from color" (Prajnaparamita). "All are vain, vain and vain,"
"only God's words are forever" (Bible). The "color" is a
Chinese translation of Rupa, which means of sensual matters including
men and life, forming and destroying endlessly. The "empty" is also
Chinese translation of Sunyata which means empty, void and nothing to
grasp seeming of changing phenomena.
VI.
Let us start from common and
end to common. It is a better way to world peace. We may prefer "man,
nature, life and love" from the start. Life said, 'do not kill me in any
names,' and accordingly, later Bible of Ten Commandments said also, "thou
shall not kill." How can we kill so many lives in the name of Allah or
God?
Man, children, nature, life,
and love are repeatedly mentioned in Rousseau and above books. We can and
should hear the nature's language of life and matters, such as birds, cows,
worms and bacteria, and also creek, air, ocean and sky.
Many things are not
different, nor same, and go to the unity. The more numerous starts, merges to
the larger unity (Wonhyo of a Korean Buddhist monk). We are given a great
mission of unifying of all superficially different cultures and religions
instead of finding of different and dogmatic creeds. All similar, same and even
different values may develop, change or reform to better and unified one.
Natures are created of
"good" (Bible), and degraded to the worse and worse by the misuses of
men. Women's breasts are, originally and naturally, the symbols for motherly
and holy milk and love, however, they are turned out to be sexual attraction
and rape. A baby, young of all animals, a colt, pup, kitten, lamb, chicken, and
sprout of all plants are all beautiful as a new life. But they are too young
and weak, then turned easily out to be a target to be killed and raped by some
abnormal adults and degraded cultures. These societies under the names of
competition, struggle for existence and "rational humanism rooted in
Renaissance and Enlightenment" (Solzhenitsyn) are responsible to this
terrible reality. Overly rationalistic humanism might to deteriorate to all
mighty scientism, departing from the good and spiritual world. The Spirit is very
ambiguous to grasp. Important is the closer to it. When we change, develop and
"transform and "connect (McGhee)" or relate to the whole cosmos
in space and eternally in time, we may be nearer to the spirit.
We enjoy very often sport
games of soccer and many others. The beauty is the heart of love and peace. The
beauty should be beautiful to all the people of the world as a common noun.
Then the beautiful soccer play and players must be touched in all the hearts of
the people. But people are usually confined to nationalistic fever, and
wish other players’ defeat, poor play
and walk out. Why the FIFA and IOC do not encourage singing FIFA Song or
Olympic Song in the festival? The games are degraded to exclusive nationalism
and national chauvinism.
Common truth is our common
goal to find out and practice our best accorded to the truth. “Parrhesia,
appeared for the first time in Greek literature in Euripides, is a verbal
activity in which a speaker expressed his personal relationship to truth, and
risks his life.” He feels that “truth-telling is his duty to improve other
people. In parrhesia, the speaker uses his freedom and chooses frankness
instead of persuasion, truth instead of falsehood, risk of death instead of
life and security, criticism instead of flattery, and moral duty instead of
self-interest and moral apathy.” (Foucault 1985)
All are my son and daughter,
grandchildren, brother and sister, mother and father, and common friend. We are
all cosmological and communal beings, we need, in short, to think communally.
Here "a child said: What is the grass?
fetching it to me with full hands;
I do not know...flag?... handkerchief of the
Lord?...bearing the owner's name?...
a
child itself? ...a uniform hieroglyphic?...beautiful uncut hair of
graves?...may be you transpire from the breasts?....
............................................
They are alive and well somewhere,
The smallest sprout shows there is really no
death, ......
All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses
And to die is different from what any one
supposed, and luckier" (Whitman's Grass)
Whitman
saw the grass transcendentally. He saw the universe, god and eternity through
the grass. Nobody knows what the grass is in this universal scope and eternal times.
But I wish to suggest you to see the grass and a child not only a piece by
piece but also all together at once, in another words,
transcendentally. The peace is in common men's relationship with all
other existences, extending indefinitely to the cosmos and eternity.
-----------------------------
Notes:
1) It
is the highest state of enlightenment of truth with doubtless and no-fixation:
Nir(out)+vana(to blow) is the blowing of extinguish of all agonies, and highest
and absolute peace and calmness.
3) Buddhism's
eight pains: are being born, getting old, diseases, death, wrench of parting, pain
of facing of the hatred, pain of no-getting of one's strong desire, pains of
human physics.
4) Bible
says Enter through narrow gate ...Small is the gate and narrow, leads to life,
and only a few find it (Matthew 7: 13-14) .
5) Jesus
said "love thy neighbor." and answered some disciple's question of
who the neighbor is with the parable. Some traveler met the gangs and beaten to
death. Some Samaritan helped and cured him.
Major Bibliography:
Bible.
Carrel, Alexis, 1957. Reflexions
sur la conduite de la vie, Librarie Plon, 8, rue
Garanciere, Paris.-6e
Clarke, Robin, 1972. Science
of War and Peace,
Dewey, John, 1922. "Does
Human Nature Change?" The Rotarian (1938), reprinted in D.
J. Bronstein, Y. H. Krikonan, and P .P.
Wiener, Basic Problems of Philosophy, New
Finkielkraut, Alain, 1997. L'Humanite
Perdue, Korean Translation.
Flower,
Of the History of Ideas,
Foucault, Michel, 1985. Power and Truth,
ed. by Joseph person, six lectures given at
Fromm, Erich, 1956. The
Art of Loving,
----------, 1964. The Heart of Man, Its Genius for
Good & Evil, Harper & Row.
Habib, Claude, 2003. Two
Faces of Love, Yyves Michau, ed., Qu‘est-ce que la
culture? Korean Translation.
Hawking, Steven, 1996. Future
of Cosmos, Korean Translation.
Hawley, Amos, 1950. Human
Ecology: A Theory of Community Structure, New
Hong, Yang-Pyo, 1993. Causes of War
and Peace Problems, Kyungpook Nationality Press (in Korean).
Kuehl, Warren F. 1978. Peace,
International, Philip P. Wiener, ed., Dictionary of The History of Ideas,.
op. cit..
Mill, J. S. On
Mirandole, Jean Pic de la,
1486. On Human Dignity.
Mizhara, Shunzi, 1988. Buddhism
in Scientific Period,
translation)
Plato, Symposium, and Phaedrus
Sartre, 1970. The Existentialism
is Humanism, 1970.
Toynbee, Arnold J., 1971. Surviving
the Future.
About the Author:
Dr.Yang-Pyo Hong is a Political Scientist. He graduated from the
Department of Political Science at
Life, Modernization and Violence, The World Peace through the Education of Democratic Personality, Causes of Arab-Israeli Conflicts in terms of peace Science, Human Aggression and Peace Theories, Analysis of Reactional Characteristics
in Korean Democracy and Nationalism, The Open Society and Socialism, Change of World Socialism and Korean Response of Democracy, The Commitment Mechanism for Community, Historical Perspective of Nationalism, The Causes of Arab-Israeli Conflict in Perspectives of Religions, Causes of Christian and Islamic Conflicts, Critics of End of History and Ideological Future, Religious and Political Peace, Political and Religious Pluralism and Peace, The Community Crises and its Over and Under Integration, Conservatism and Yushin Military Coup in Korea, The Idea of War and Peace in
Communism and Hobson, and The Fundamental Crises of Korean Political Community. In 2001, Dr. Hong published a paper on the Seminar of KPSA (Korean Political Science Association), Love Community, Social Science and Democracy; in 2003 a Review for Korean Political Science, Crisis of World Community, Unity and Iraqi War and in 2004,
an article in the Journal of
Professor Emeritus of
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