Introduction

In this issue of Dialectic, Cosmos, and Society, we are please to present selections from a new canto from Ernesto Cardenal, former Sandinista Minister of Culture for the Republic of Nicaragua and one of the foremost poets of our time. We present the original Spanish text and a translation by John Lyons. The material will eventually be incorporated into the revised edition of Cantico Cosmico. Cardenal’s poetry has revived the epic for a new era and puts forward just precisely the sort of vision of hope for humanity and the universe which we believe is necessary if humanity is to overcome the present darkness and realize its latent potential.

Our lead theoretical article in this issue is by Helena Knyazeva of the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dr. Knyazeva applies recent developments in synergetics of complex systems theory to the understanding of the human person. Among other contributions, she shows how it is possible for a lower order system (the human person) to be more complex than a higher order system (a human society), while still being shaped in fundamental ways by this higher order system. The article represents a significant contribution to reconciling human autonomy with a recognition of the role of human society in shaping personality structure. It also provides an excellent introduction to recent Russian and German perspectives on synergetics and complex systems theory.

Finally, my own article argues that a nonmarket allocation of resources is quite impossible apart form substantive judgments of value regarding the relative merits of various activities. This poses a challenge for the norms of secularity and pluralism which we have historically associated with democracy. I argue that only a radically historicized natural law approach to politics can resolve this problem. The demands of pluralism can be reconciled with the need to make substantive, public judgments of value by understanding politics as a debate among people from different traditions regarding the nature and concrete policy implications of the Common Good.