Sun Myung Moon
November 27-30,1975
The Fourth International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences
Founder's Address
Waldorf Astoria Hotel, New York, New York
Honorable Chairman, eminent scientists, respected professors and scholars... It is with the greatest pleasure that I extend my warmest welcome to all of you present today at this "International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences." We are deeply honored by your presence.
As many of you already know, this conference was initiated in November of 1972. We have made it an annual event and the second conference was held in November of the following year in Tokyo, the third conference in London, and we are now holding the fourth conference again here in America. I am especially grateful to those who have been present at the conferences each year. Your continued presence indicates that while you have been making intensive research in your specific fields, you have endeavored to apply your efforts to the common goal which is the welfare of all mankind.
Today, in all fields people are prone to narrow their research to small and limited areas so that they tend to lose the overall purpose or the centrality of their subject. By doing so, they lose vitality which is produced and which functions only through the harmonious integration between the fields. They stray from the original motivation and purpose of science which is to bring about human happiness. In the extreme we even can find instances where people have destroyed their own happiness with their inventions.
The fragmentation of sciences is analogous to a body consisting of scattered cells having no life. When we examine the structure of the human body, there are millions of cells in an interrelated network making it possible for the body to function with vitality. In a human being there is the brain which is the central point and the subject from which the message and commands go through the spinal cord and nerve endings to reach every cell, thus making the millions of cells function harmoniously The eye, as is true with any part of the human body, has the individual purpose for the sake of the eye, while at the same time it serves the purpose of the whole body. Every part of the human body has a dual purpose. Therefore, pain in one cell, which is the basic unit of the human body, gives pain to the whole body; and conversely the health of each cell gives health to the whole body. Without a normal relationship and order among cells, a man will become sick.
I believe that the ideal structure or organization of any unit or group in human society should be like the structure of the human body Today's society, deprived of such relationship and order, is paralyzed and sick. Something is desperately wrong! Man, conscious of the chaos and confusion, is frustrated. The population explosion, pollution and exploited natural resources are not the only problems. The sickness of the society lies within the very essence of man's being.
Reverend Sun Myung Moon giving Founder's Address
In order to deal with all these problems, man must have a clear and healthy mind so that he can function effectively. What we need is not an industrial or technological revolution but a great revolution of human consciousness. The solution to social problems is not limited to the natural sciences but must be trans-disciplinary and influencing the areas of social science, the arts, religion, etc. The previously mentioned problems are not restricted to any one country. They are not those of one age but ultimately of human history, affecting the past, present and the future.
By going through this revolution of human consciousness man must be so led as to use the results of his research for the peaceful coexistence of all mankind in a very creative and productive way. Man's ideal can be realized only when he serves the individual purpose and the public purpose in complete harmony.
In the field of natural science, as in every other field of research, the immediate individual purpose must be attained along with the long term, broader purpose of integrating with other fields for the whole of mankind. Only then can we find the true meaning of the results of research.
In order to integrate all the specific fields of research, we are in need of a larger design or blueprint. In this way we may have a common ideal before us as we proceed to achieve this integration. The main purpose of this Conference on the Unity of the Sciences is for us to produce that blueprint. Permit me to offer some thoughts concerning that blueprint.
Man is aware that he has life within him because his mind which originates from a source of the highest dimension is not limited to space and time. That source may be called the cosmic mind or the first cause of all beings. Man must be able to understand the centrality of absolute value in the cosmos in order to give his life meaning.
By setting up a new world order where all mankind are brothers and sisters transcendent of national and racial boundaries and living as one human family we can enjoy the ideal world with true peace and happiness. In order to make such a reality, science must be evaluated from outside the realm of science. Science policy must be determined in consideration of society as a whole. We must not lose the very central point of the whole purpose: science is not for science itself but for the welfare of humanity. In other words, for the development of science to have meaning in man's everyday life, man must discuss and establish a standard of value in terms of the whole.
Science begins its research on visible and external things. However, science can also assist in understanding the frontiers of invisible or internal things of a spiritual dimension. Finally, the integration of the two realms should occur. Thus, we must be able to have a central point located in the external, visible world connected to the central point located in the metaphysical world of the highest dimension. Then, with the latter as the unchanging axis, the other will revolve around it for eternity in the action of give and take-giving absolute meaning and value to all things in space and time.
In conclusion, I sincerely hope that all of you here will freely present the results of your respective research, exchange opinions without reservation, and discuss common issues from a broad viewpoint embracing the whole purpose of the welfare of mankind. I believe you can observe, grasp and solve all the existing problems of human society if you utilize in a unified way the knowledge of your respective specialized fields. In this way the centrality of science and absolute values, in terms of the existing world, will be established and exalted.
I hope you will contribute without reservation to this vast project. Thank you.