To uphold the world : a call for a new global ethic from ancient India / Bruce Rich.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rich, Bruce.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Aśoka, King of Magadha, active 259 B.C.

Aśoka.

Kauṭalya. Arthaśāstra.

Kauṭalya.

Globalization--Social aspects.

Globalization.

International cooperation.

Social ethics.

Physical Description:

xvii, 228 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Boston : Beacon Press, [2010]

Summary:

What two great figures of ancient India--Ashoka and Kautilya--can tell us about our contemporary economic and social crises In 1991, Bruce Rich traveled to Orissa and gazed upon the rock edicts erected by the Indian emperor Ashoka over 2,200 years ago. Intrigued by the stone inscriptions that declared religious tolerance, conservation, nonviolence, species protection, and human rights, Rich was drawn into Ashoka's world. Ashoka was a powerful conqueror who converted to Buddhism on the heels of a bloody war, yet his empire rested on a political system that prioritized material wealth and amoral realpolitik. This system had been perfected by Kautilya, a statesman who wrote the world's first treatise on economics. In this powerful critique of the current wave of globalization, Rich urgently calls for a new global ethic, distilling the messages of Ashoka and Kautilya while reflecting on thinkers from across the ages--from Aristotle and Adam Smith to George Soros.

Contents:

Past present

The age of transcendence

The great dilemma

The Arthasastra: wealth above all

The gift of dirt

The greatest conquest

Ashoka's legacy: conundrum and challenge

To uphold the world.

Notes:

Reprint. Originally published in New Delhi by Viking in 2008 as: To uphold the world : the message of Ashoka and Kautilya for the 21st century.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780807006139

0807006130

9780807002490

0807002496

OCLC:

335678807

Publisher Number:

99937622453