Additional information
by Catherine MC Carthy (Translator), Vittorio Cotesta (Author)
Vittorio Cotesta's The Heavens and the Earth traces the origin of the images of the world typical of the Graeco-Roman, Ancient Chinese and Medieval Islamic civilisations. Each of them had its own peculiar way of understanding the universe, life, death, society, power, humanity and its destiny. The comparative analysis carried out here suggests that they all shared a common human aspiration despite their differences: human being is unique; differences are details which enrich its image.
Today, the traditions derived from these civilisations are often in competition and conflict. Reference to a common vision of humanity as a shared universal entity should lead, instead, to a quest for understanding and dialogue.
Author Biography
Vittorio Cotesta is Professor of Sociology at Università degli Studi Roma Tre (Rome). His main fields of interest are Global Society, Human Rights, Modernity, and Civilizations. Among his publications: Max Weber on China. Modernity and Capitalism in a Global Perspective (Cambridge Scholar Publishing, 2018); Kings into Gods. How Prostration Shaped Eurasian Civilizations (Brill, 2015); Global Society and Human Rights (Brill, 2012); Global Society, Cosmopolitanism and Human Rights (ed.) (Cambridge Scholar Publishing, 2013).
