Kostas Gouliamos Photo: Wei Yingqi/CSST

As the history of human civilization shows, no culture has ever developed in isolation or remained entirely closed. Dialogue among civilizations is never one-directional but inherently multidimensional; it is not about proving superiority, but about cultivating the wisdom of exchange. Boasting humanity’s most enduring traditions, Chinese civilization offers valuable insights for confronting today’s dilemmas and addressing modern challenges. At a time when crises continue to emerge and intertwine, the aspiration for deeper engagement among civilizations has grown ever more prominent.

At the First World History Frontiers Forum held on Sept. 12 in Beijing, CSST spoke with Kostas Gouliamos, a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts and recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award. He noted that dialogue and mutual learning among civilizations span not only culture, but also society and emotion. To deepen exchanges between East and West, he stressed the importance of listening to the voices of different civilizations as a way to build a better future in an uncertain world.

Wisdom that transcends cultural boundaries

CSST: Although ancient Chinese philosophy and Greek philosophy differ in form, characteristics, and attributes, they share certain values, concepts, and philosophical traditions. What is your view on this?

Gouliamos: Everything is a product of historical and social conditions within the perspective of time and space; we can see and analyze similarities—philosophically speaking or ethically speaking—between or among cultures. For instance, the concept of ethics, order, and harmony are something that exist in both ancient Chinese philosophy and ancient Greek philosophy. Therefore, the resonance across different cultures means that commonalities can be found in how humans perceive the world in any way—the origin of the universe, the essence of the world, and the rules of survival. This is a kind of common wisdom that transcends cultural boundaries.

The concept, for instance, of a harmonious society is part of the Confucius theory and the natural law theory of ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus. Obviously, these two cultures, or “schools,” never met each other, but they shared the same vision and interpretation on the ideal social order and on how we have to live in a world as human beings.

Here I would like to speak about the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in March 2023. The initiative reinvigorates the genes of mutual learning among civilizations along the ancient Silk Road. It also gives the rest of the world the opportunity to fully conceptualize the distant memories and benefits of the old type of Silk Road pathways and routes to early human civilizations in those days. It offers a Chinese solution to resolve the problems that today’s civilizations face.

Along the Silk Road in ancient times, people exchanged not just products, but also ideas, knowledge, emotions, and feelings. Therefore, we learn from our past in order to understand what’s going on in the present time, and accordingly navigate or design our future. This is quite important. From this point of view, the GCI is unique and innovative. It is also extremely important to take into consideration the GCI as a bridge that connects different cultures and different civilizations. At the same time, the initiative represents a concept: It is also a tool that leads the whole world to a process of sustainable peace. In the process of building a harmonious world, in order to materialize the thought, we need to think about how to build a common future for the benefit of humanity.

CSST: Some scholars argue that Western philosophy emphasizes rationalism more than Chinese philosophy, and that rationalism has profoundly shaped the course of Western civilization. How do you understand this view?

Gouliamos: Regarding rationalism, it is indeed a concept that is closely related to Western philosophy and has also influenced Western politics. However, the way that people operate in the so-called Western world is very utilitarian. Influenced by rationalism, the Western society pursues “utility,” or serves people’s certain utilitarian purposes.

Against supremacy of Western civilization

CSST: Throughout history, some civilizations have considered themselves superior to others and sought to dominate the world. How do you view the notions of “civilizational supremacy” and “clash of civilizations” that persist today?

Gouliamos: The so-called war mentality, unilateralism, or civilizational supremacy are concepts that jeopardize the issue of harmony and the issue of peace by creating opposition among civilizations. Till today, Western civilization is a concept that is rooted in colonial genes. Before the Cold War, some scholars who supported Western centrism were trying to transfer and impose, even with violence, the concept of supremacy in Western civilization to the world. I’m against this, because the “universal values” advocated by Western civilization are fundamentally fabricated narratives.

We have again to redefine the way that the so-called Western society or Western civilization has invaded almost everything, leaving the rest of the world far behind—this is based on Eurocentrism. There is a fact many scholars don’t know—Hegel’s philosophy, to some extent, provided a “theoretical coat” for this kind of colonial modernity. Hegel was very Eurocentric in his philosophical approach. Because the philosophy in Germany to a certain extent dominated the philosophical environment of the 18th and 19th centuries, the rest of European philosophers have been influenced by this and have seen the rest of the world through the same narrow lens.

Marx was one of the thinkers who opposed this type of Eurocentric approach. That’s why, when the Opium War started, he had written a number of articles accusing the capitalists and the Western forces that brought about colonial crimes, including the British who invaded China.

Chinese modernization rooted in history

CSST: Chinese modernization is deeply rooted in China’s history and development process. The Chinese people often use history as a mirror, looking back and drawing lessons from it. How do you view the relationship between tradition and modernity?

Gouliamos: As I consider, modernization is an advantage for China. One of the important factors behind China’s success, Chinese modernization is rooted in a culture of more than 5,000 years and is based on a combination of historical, social, and political circumstances. Chinese modernization does not copy others, and its process has greatly contributed to the remarkable advancement of Chinese society.

For a long time, Chinese people have respected their own history and their own traditions. They use their own traditions and history to moderate the current circumstances. The evolution of any civilization is a continuation of the past—this is particularly typical for Chinese civilization. One of the world’s oldest continuous civilizations and the only civilization in human history that has lasted for over 5,000 years without interruption, Chinese civilization is characterized by several features—for example, continuity—that shape its inheritance and global influence. Inspired by Taoist thought and its view on nature, harmony between humanity and nature constitutes an important dimension of the value system of Chinese civilization.

CSST: In some Western countries, tradition is considered old or outdated and is therefore rejected. Can you comment on this phenomenon?

Gouliamos: This differs by country and in the field of anthropology. In our modern society, particularly during the Cold War period, there was a movement talking about post-modernism. Some scholars wanted to cut tradition. This historical perception is, I would say, a great misunderstanding. I mean, modernization is not necessarily at the expense of rejecting tradition. The post-modern theory became one of the most influential schools of the past decades. However, its deconstruction of tradition and grand narratives is somewhat radical. This is a kind of cognitive bias and disorder in cultural identity.

Friendship, cooperation as bond

CSST: At the opening ceremony of the First World History Frontiers Forum, you said that digital transformation has reshaped global civilization. AI, biotechnology, and global supply chains have connected countries more than ever. Can you elaborate?

Gouliamos: Digital transformation is now changing our world. The digital system and the technological environment means we have to embrace and incorporate technology by preserving our system of value with wisdom. Within this context, it’s important for the rest of the world to conceptualize the Global AI Governance Initiative proposed by China at the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation two years ago. This is a new initiative which is excellent because it tries to incorporate AI into the needs of 21st century. But we have to be careful in order to avoid all problematic situations of technology abuse, and pay attention to today’s global challenges that we face.

Finally, I want to mention the English version of the book that I coauthored with President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Gao Xiang—The Belt and Road Initiative: Past, Present, Future, which was published by Palgrave Macmillan. Themed on the Belt and Road Initiative, the book is about cross-cultural mutual learning and the revitalization of the ancient Silk Road. I always believe that friendship and cooperation is the bond between different civilizations.