DEMOS

Political conflict is increasingly framed in ethical terms, within and between societies. Yet as the dominance of 'western' freedom and progress has required increased military defence, western societies are becoming aware of new challenges to their moral self-confidence. We can barely face the shocking news that our version of the good society is not universally accepted.

The influence of liberal democratic capitalism pervades every part of the world. But at the same time, the moral bases and institutions of its 'model' societies have been eroded by the very individualism and diversity which they have fought to protect. The growth of scientific knowledge and cultural complexity pose new ethical challenges which often expose the inadequacy of conventional responses.

In this collection of essays, a series of world leading thinkers illuminate contemporary ethical dilemmas, and articulate a long term response to the need for a 'remoralisation' which can be sustained in a new, more interdependent world.

They show that the task of defining an ethical framework required far-reaching self examination, and a commitment to community building which emphasises reason, tolerance and compromise. Following the attacks of 11 September 2001, the challenges of living and governing wisely in the early twenty-first century could hardly be greater. Meeting them requires, at the very least, a clear definition of our moral universe.

Tom Bentley is the director of Demos and Daniel Stedman Jones is a researcher.