To uphold the world
Subtitle: a call for a new global ethic from ancient India
By: Bruce Rich
Contributors: ebrary, Inc
Publisher: Beacon Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Boston
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] :
Number of pages: 228
ISBN-13: 9780807006139
Subjects: Social aspects; International cooperation; Globalization; Social ethics
Description: In 1991, the author 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.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Electronic reproduction. Palo Alto, Calif. : ebrary, 2010. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ebrary affiliated libraries.