The Four Basic Demands
This text is a preview of History of the Reception of Hegel, volume II, to be published in 2026 by Reflexivity Press.
In 1993 the Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago adopted a “Declaration Toward a Global Ethic,” which Küng had substantially formulated. Over 6,000 participants from nearly all the world’s religions – Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Baha’is, Confucians, Daoists, Shintoists, adherents of indigenous religions – agreed to a text naming four basic demands.
The first demand is nonviolence and respect for all life. In Hinduism this principle is called ahimsa – non-injury. It is so central that it shapes an entire way of life: vegetarianism, respect for animals, avoidance of violence even in thought and speech. In Buddhism, the prohibition against killing living beings is the first of the five basic precepts every Buddhist undertakes. In Judaism, the fifth of the Ten Commandments forbids killing. In Christianity, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount blesses the peacemakers. In Islam, the Quran teaches: “Whoever kills a person, it is as if he had killed all of mankind” (Surah 5:32). In Confucianism, ren, humaneness, stands at the center of all virtues.
The systematic point: life is an end in itself, not a mere means. This insight is found in all traditions, even though the justifications vary. For Hinduism, all life is a manifestation of the divine; for Buddhism, all life is capable of suffering and therefore worthy of protection; for the Abrahamic religions, life is a gift from God and therefore sacred. The formulations differ, but the structure is the same: life has a value that may not be instrumentalized.
The second demand concerns solidarity and a just economic order. All traditions criticize greed, exploitation, and injustice. In Judaism there is the sabbatical year, in which debts are forgiven, and the jubilee year, in which land reverts to its original owners. In Christianity, Jesus warns urgently against wealth and calls for sharing with the poor. In Islam, zakat, the obligatory almsgiving for the needy, is one of the five pillars. In Buddhism, right livelihood is part of the Eightfold Path. In Confucianism, care for the people belongs among the ruler’s duties.
The systematic point: human beings are ends in themselves, not means to profit. The economy should serve life, not life the economy. Here too the justifications vary, but the structure converges: the human being may not be reduced to an economic function.
The third demand aims at tolerance and a life of truthfulness. The prohibition of lying is found in all traditions: in the Decalogue of Judaism, in Buddhist right speech, in the Islamic command of sincerity, in the Confucian virtue of truthfulness. Behind this stands a deeper insight: community is only possible where trust prevails. And trust presupposes that people say what they mean and do what they say.
The systematic point: truth is a condition of recognition. Whoever lies does not treat the other as a subject entitled to the truth, but as an object that can be manipulated. Lying violates the dignity of the one who is deceived.
The fourth demand calls for equal rights and partnership between men and women. Here Küng is at his most progressive – for in fact many traditions have developed patriarchal structures. But he argues: at their core, all traditions acknowledge the dignity of all human beings, regardless of sex. Patriarchal distortions are deviations from the traditions’ own ideal, not expressions of the ideal itself. The liberation of women is therefore not a betrayal of tradition but a return to its authentic core.
The systematic point: recognition is universal, not sex-specific. If all human beings are bearers of dignity, then all – not just half.