Time, Conflict, and Human Values

"Moving easily among the realms of literature, philosophy, biology, physics, mathematics, ethics, art, and religion, J. T. Fraser excavates the foundations of human values and elucidates their role in the lives of individuals, societies, and the historical process. Positing that the need for human values arises from the necessity to control the unbounded imaginative powers of the mind, Fraser reveals time as an essential constituent of the principles of selection that determine values, rather than merely a backdrop against which the stability of values may be tested."--BOOK JACKET. "Over the course of history, Fraser argues, human values have served primarily not as conservative influences that promote permanence, continuity, and balance - as commonly believed - but as revolutionary forces that, in the long run, promote change by generating and sustaining certain unresolvable conflicts."--BOOK JACKET.

Widely acknowledged as the world's foremost authority on the interdisciplinary study of time, J.T. Fraser moves easily among the rea lms of literature, philosophy, biology, physics, mathematics, ethics, and religion to uncover the foundation of human values and clarify their ro le in the lives of individuals, societies, and the historical process.

A s the twenty-first century begins, six billion people are crossing a cult ural bridge: from social institutions appropriate for an earth where human groups could interact only very slowly, if at all, to one where all soc ial institutions interact instantaneously and simultaneously. In this brilliant and accessible discourse, Fraser addresses the challenges pos ed by a cyberspaced humanity as it relates to ideas about human values.

Fraser builds his reasoning on an interpretation of the natur e of time that urges us toward a novel understanding of the dynamics of huma n values. He shows that seeking the true, doing what is right, and admir ing what is beautiful, far from promoting permanence, continuity, and balan ce in individual and social affairs, actually perpetuates the chronic insecurity of humanity--the time-knowing species--and drives our remark able creativity and frightening destructiveness.

A work of extraordinary clarity, depth, and range, TIME, CONFLICT, AND HUMAN VALUES will stand as a touchstone for all future discussions in the arena of human values.