World System: An Introduction to the Philosophy of World Institutions

Author: Zhao Tingyang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: Being responsible to the world, rather than just to one's own country, is a theoretical perspective from Chinese philosophy. In practice, it presents a brand-new possibility—taking "the world under heaven" as the primary analytical unit for political/economic interests, understanding the world from this perspective, and using "the world" as the unit of thought to analyze issues. This means transcending the Western national/state mindset and taking world responsibility as one's own duty, creating new world concepts and institutions. When China begins to think about global issues and takes responsibility for the world, it cannot remain silent on the matter and must be able to offer thoughts on the world. China's worldview then becomes the most pressing issue. Having taken the stage, China cannot afford to stay silent. This is the intellectual task and inevitable logic of China today. The world as we currently know it is still a "non-world." The most serious problem we face is not the existence of ineffective states within the world, but an ineffective world. Opposing oneself to others, believers to non-believers, the West to the East, and everything that does not oppose itself to anything else—this is the fundamental political consciousness of the West. Such political consciousness lacks a sense of the world and, more importantly, cannot take responsibility for the world.