Professors from the University of Tokyo, New York University, and the University of Bonn delivered a series of special lectures on February 9-10, 2022 on the subject of “Value Values, Social, Humans” in the field of East Asian liberal arts.

The first speaker was Professor Maria Adele Carrai from New York University. The title of her presentation was “The Rise of China and Values and Values in the International Community.” Her analysis of values was characterized not from the perspective of the individual, but from the perspective of the society/state as a whole. Through her examination of the many types of dominant values throughout history (e.g., nationalism in the 1910s, fascism in the 1930s, communism and liberalism in the 1960s), we are impressed by several facts. First, there are no values that can be shared by all individuals in any era, which means that each value is extremely limited and that the dominant value is merely the result of the universalization of a particular restricted value. Second, values are constantly changing and evolving. For example, Raymond Aron claimed in 1966 that the most important value was “living together relatively well” as “the minimum conditions for coexistence,” while Hedley Bull noted in 1977 that certain common goals included “national and social protection,” etc.

It seems that we cannot talk about values without a specific context. Moreover, in addition to the content of values, the question of who determines international values is very much at the core of the exploration of the nature of values. The important element in this respect is the power of the state/society, which has a decisive control over values and the hierarchy between different values. Is it then still possible to discuss the meaning of values per se? As Professor Takahiro Nakajima’s conceptualization of the relationship between value and power shows: on the one hand, value is undoubtedly supported by power, yet on the other hand, it should overcome or transcend power and achieve its own process of universalization. In this sense, therefore, we can acknowledge the intrinsic meaning of value. This so-called autonomy of values also provides the possibility of treating them as a philosophical problem.

In current international relations, because China is a rapidly rising power, China’s values have become one of the focal points of international attention. It is recognized that China is now transforming its values into a sort of superior model of democracy, emphasizing public satisfaction. It is worth noting, however, that this shift is not an entirely new transformation, but rather a relativization of existing values. Furthermore, when talking about existing Chinese values, especially Confucian values, we should not reduce them to a few key words (e.g., benevolence, righteousness, wangdao王道), as it has had a number of variants in the Chinese historical tradition. In trying to establish the values of a state or society, “soft power” (as opposed to “hard power,” e.g., military, violence) is often mentioned. What kind of culture, rather than K-pop, can truly represent a country and exert a profound impact on international relations is a task we need to think about, which is also the open-ended question raised at the end of this talk.

Reported by DING Yi (EAA Research Assistant)