Suicide for Survival?: The Challenge of the Year 2000

This work, the first of a series which UNESCO plans to bring out on the major problems of our time, stems from a Round Table on "The Challenge of the Year 2000'. The breadth of this theme for reflection inevitably gave rise to highly complex approaches, from a variety of standpoints—economic, social, political, cultural, ethical, etc.—since the problems dealt with proved to be closely interdependent, reflecting the actual pattern of the order—or disorder—which is a feature of our society in this last quarter of the twentieth century. The very wealth of contributions from the various participants, scholars, artists, philosophers and politicians, all expressing themselves in accordance with one or other different schools of thought, made it necessary to classify them under a few major headings by way of a guide to the reader. The work is therefore divided into four organic sections. 'Man—Puppet or Master of Own His Achievements', 'Man against the Powers that Be', 'A New Social Contract' and 'The Continuing Battle of Culture', within which each contribution relates to others, converging with, or diverging from them in the kind of polyphonic mode which invested the discussions with such originality and depth.