Zwischen Universalismus und Relativismus: Gedanken zu einem interkulturellen Dialog mit China

In: Asien: the German journal on contemporary Asia, Heft 71, S. 17-40

Abstract

The contrary positions of China and the West concerning some of the most heatedly debated issues in the arena on international politics - human rights and democracy - can be characterized as relativistic vs. universalistic. This essay argues that these issues should not be seen from an ideological but from a historical perspective. It should be kept in mind that the present manifestations of cultures are a result of ongoing evolutionary processes of both intracultural discourses as well as intercultural exchange and assimilation. Dialogue should not be seen as a way to lecture the partner in a student-teacher relationship but - with a hermeneutic intention - as a means to be informed by and about the other, thus leading to a process of mutual learning and to a change of views of both sides. (Asien)