News & Blog

Spotlight: Steven Rockefeller on Dignity & Humanism

Over the last few months our work has focused specifically on human dignity. But dignity is always near the heart of our work, no matter the time or topic. Philosophically speaking, dignity is a core aspect of the Buddhist humanism that undergirds all our endeavors and inquiries. In his opening lecture at the 2009 Ikeda Forum, Dr. Steven Rockefeller identified dignity as one of the values that unites the humanistic philosophies of Center founder Daisaku Ikeda and American philosopher John Dewey:

"There is agreement between Dewey and Ikeda on the general...

Living As Learning & Cross-Cultural Understanding

A new piece at the Southern Illinois University website profiles Center friend Larry Hickman and his work promoting cross-cultural understanding. The story devotes considerable attention to our newest Dialogue Path Press title, Living As Learning: John Dewey in the 21st Century, which Dr. Hickman recently co-authored with Jim Garrison and Daisaku Ikeda. In particular, the piece looks at ways that Dewey's philosophy connects with that of Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, whose Buddhist, value-creating philosophy (formed in the early decades of the 20th century), provides a foundation for Mr....

2015 Peace Proposal: For a More Humane Future

Center founder Daisaku Ikeda's 2015 Peace Proposal to the United Nations is called "A Shared Pledge for a More Humane Future: To Eliminate Misery from the Earth." The excerpt below is from the synopsis of the full version, which can be accessed and read here.

"On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the establishment of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), I would like to offer some thoughts on ways to generate greater solidarity among the people of the world for peace and humane values...

Donna Hicks Event: the Power of Dignity

When Donna Hicks first hit on the concept of dignity as a way to understand conflict, she learned two things fast. One was that people were very receptive to the concept and eager to use the lens of dignity to understand the conflicts they were in and the pain they were feeling. The other was that, despite the near universality of agreement that dignity is crucial, most of us share a pretty shallow understanding of what it is and how it impacts us. With this awareness, Hicks set out to research, understand, and apply dignity in the context of her work as a conflict resolution specialist to...

Hicks Event Photo Gallery

View our new photo gallery for the January 31, 2015, event with Harvard's Donna Hicks celebrating and exploring the power of dignity to transform conflict. A capacity crowd attended on a day that was cold and clear but positioned cleanly within two major snowstorms. She is the author of Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict. She employs the lens of dignity to help resolve conflicts large and small, here and abroad.

View the gallery!

Donna Hicks Event

A Public Talk with Donna Hicks

Dignity: The Role it Plays in Our Lives and Relationships

Saturday, January 31, 2015
2:00pm – 4:00pm, with reception to follow

* The event was a big success on Saturday! *

Read an article about the event here

"Dignity is a human phenomenon. Our desire for it is our highest common denominator. We all want it, seek it, and...

King on the Power of Gandhi's Philosophy

Writing in Stride Toward Freedom, his 1958 account of the transformative events set in motion in Montgomery, Alabama, by Rosa Parks' refusal to move to the back of the bus, Martin Luther King, Jr., described his intellectual and ethical "pilgrimage to nonviolence." Gandhi was prominent among many influences on the young scholar and activist:

"Like most people, I had heard of Gandhi, but I had never studied him seriously. As I read I became deeply fascinated by his campaigns of nonviolent resistance. I was...

2014 Quote of the Year: Ikeda on Good and Evil

In the newest Dialogue Path Press title, Living As Learning: John Dewey in the 21st Century (Oct. '14), Daisaku Ikeda clarified the best way to comprehend the concepts of good and evil: "Even the worst person is not unconnected to good, nor is the best person unconnected to evil," he said. "Accepting this as a premise makes it impossible to claim that one side is always good, and everything opposed to it is always bad." He reflected further on good and evil, saying: "Anger, for instance, works for good if directed against whatever threatens human worth and dignity. If it is purely...

What Motivates Ikeda's Commitment to Global Peace?

[Posted by M. Bogen, 12-23-14] Writing in the Afterward to A Forum for Peace: Daisaku Ikeda's Proposals to the UN (I.B. Tauris, 2014), book editor Olivier Urbain (left) identifies what he considers the three main factors motivating Daisaku Ikeda's lifelong devotion to creating a more peaceful world for all.

Ikeda's first motivation, says Urbain, flows from his experiences with World War II as a youth. The Ikeda family twice lost their home to air raids, and more devastatingly, his eldest brother died in action in Burma. His mother's grief at...

Hicks on Dignity, Part 2

Donna Hicks, an associate at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, has two decades’ experience in the field of international conflict resolution and is author of Dignity: Its Essential Role in Resolving Conflict (Yale University Press, 2011). Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu, who worked with Dr. Hicks to foster reconciliation in the aftermath of “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland, says of his friend: “Donna Hicks has a gift of opening to our sight a world where those most basic of human needs—appreciation, recognition, and the feeling of inherent worth...

Pages

More...

Search form

News & Blog

A Public Talk with Donna Hicks

Dignity: The Role it Plays in Our Lives and Relationships

Pages