Common Values

Common Values by Sissela Bok, 127 pages

Sissela Bok understands the natural skepticism which any attempt to define universal human values encounters in postmodern culture.  Still, in this short book, based on lectures delivered at the University of Missouri - Columbia in 1994, she maintains that such attempts are necessary, since the global nature of current crises demand engagement across multiple cultures.  Her solution is to limit the definition to a strictly minimalist ethics, including only the basic components indispensable for societal cohesion and therefore universal - rejection of violence, theft, and dishonesty.  While she admits that these elements are not sufficient for any culture, she maintains that they can serve as a basis for agreement between cultures, common ground on which to build solutions to problems of war, poverty, and the environment.