Our Common Humanity - Reflections on the Reclamation of the Human Spirit

A far-reaching account of what is meant by the human spirit, and its relevance to the worldwide efforts being made to meet the challenges that define this historical moment.

Notions of identity, grounded in socially constructed conceptualizations of race, gender, class, and nationality continue to pose serious threats to our collective future. At the same time, everything that had once been associated with the human spirit is often understood today only in terms of neurobiology and cognitive science. Yet if the twenty-first century is to be any different from the century just ended, the protection and development of the human spirit will have to emerge as an appropriate focus for judging the moral legitimacy of human acts, social policy, or cultural or religious practices.

In a Bahá'í-inspired approach to these issues, the unique perspectives contained in the Bahá'í writings are explored alongside the rich diversity of other philosophical, epistemic, and moral traditions that have contributed to our understanding of the nature and needs of the human spirit over the ages.

Dr Michael Penn is a Clinical Psychologist and a Professor of Psychology at Franklin & Marshall College, Pennsylvania, United States. He is a member of the US Council on Foreign Relations, and has lived and lectured widely around the world, serving many global initiatives including the UN Leaders Programme, the Federal University of Brazil's programme for peace studies, the UK Secretariat for the Commonwealth of Nations, the Government of Greenland's initiative to reduce gender-based violence, the 'Education for Peace Project' in Switzerland that assisted the children of Bosnia-Herzegovina overcome the effects of war and genocide, and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Administration. He currently serves on the Permanent Board of the Tahirih Justice Center, which provides legal and clinical services to women and girls fleeing gender-based violence and persecution.