Abstract

It is hard to conceive of a more appropriate time in history for a collection of essays on freedom, equality, and social change to appear. Philosophical ideas may be born and nurtured in the minds of philosophers and idealists, but they become dynamite when statesmen and the people of the world take hold of them and cherish them more than life. There seems to be no way that anyone could have foreseen or predicted the impact which the quest for freedom on every continent of the world is having. That the impact of philosophy and its ideals could create such shock waves around the world is the most startling development of the twentieth century. At the same time, it is not commonplace for a group of scholars, especially philosophers, with a profound familiarity with the subject to produce a serious volume on a subject involving global issues directly applicable to the clash of ideals currently taking place in the minds and actions of hundreds of millions of people throughout the world.