Ratified by the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1993 and expanded in 2018, "Towards a Global Ethic (An Initial Declaration)," or the
Global Ethic
, expresses the minimal set of principles shared by people--religious or not. Though it is a secular document, the
emerged after months of collaborative, interreligious dialogue dedicated to identifying a common ethical framework. This volume tests and contests the claim that the
Global Ethic's
ethical directives can be found in the world's religious, spiritual, and cultural traditions.
The book features essays by scholars of religion who grapple with the practical implications of the
directives when applied to issues like women's rights, displaced peoples, income and wealth inequality, India's caste system, and more. The scholars explore their respective religious traditions' ethical response to one or more of these issues and compares them to the ethical response elaborated by the
. The traditions included are Hinduism, Engaged Buddhism, Shi'i Islam, Sunni Islam, Confucianism, Protestantism, Catholicism, Judaism, Indigenous African Religions, and Human Rights. To highlight the complexities within traditions, most essays are followed by a brief response by an expert in the same tradition.
Multi-Religious Perspectives
on a Global Ethic
is of special interest to advanced students and scholars whose work focuses on the religious traditions listed above, on comparative religion, religious ethics, comparative ethics, and common morality.