Universal Ethical Dimensions of World Religions: The Case of Hans Küng

Abstract

This study seeks to explore the formation of the human horizon in the philosophy of Hans Küng by tracing the intellectual transformations through which his project developed: from questioning religious faith and seeking to establish its reasonableness, to grounding trust in the human being and in reality, opening the self to the Other, and ultimately searching for a shared human ground upon which a global ethic might be founded. The study is guided by a central philosophical question: How did the human horizon take shape in Küng’s philosophy, and how was he able to move from the particularity of religious belonging toward a universal ethical horizon without erasing plurality and difference? To address this question, the study adopts a critical-analytical approach, examining a selection of Küng’s major texts and identifying the conceptual connections that give coherence to his philosophical project.

The study is organized around three main themes. The first examines Küng’s transition from inherited faith to reasonable faith and the accompanying reconsideration of the relationship between faith, reason, and religious authority. The second explores the role of fundamental trust and the relationship with the Other in the formation of human consciousness. The third considers the transition from humanity to global ethic and the minimum set of shared values and standards upon which such an ethic is grounded. The study argues that Küng’s intellectual development does not represent a rupture with religious faith; rather, it reveals a gradual widening of the horizon of questioning: from a faith seeking to establish its reasonableness, to a form of trust that opens the self to the Other, from there to the discovery of a shared human ground, and ultimately to a global ethic that does not abolish religious and cultural particularities but seeks, within their plurality, a common ethical foundation.

The study concludes that human dignity, trust, and responsibility toward the Other constitute fundamental pillars of this human horizon. It further argues that universality, for Küng, does not entail the unification of beliefs or cultures; rather, it seeks to establish the possibility of a shared human life in a world increasingly marked by both difference and interconnectedness.

The study concludes with several key findings, notably:

• Hans Küng’s intellectual development cannot be explained as a transition from religious faith to a separate humanistic stance, or a break with his Christian reference point; rather, it is a gradual expansion of the horizon of inquiry, in which he moved from criticizing inherited patterns of faith and religious authority to searching for a reasonable faith, capable of entering into dialogue with reason, humanity, and the world.


• The research showed that the other represents a foundational moment in the formation of human consciousness for Küng; the self is not complete in isolation but rather is formed in its relationship with the religiously and culturally different other. Therefore, Küng rejected prejudices and generalizations that reduce religions to the errors of some of their followers, and openness to the other became a prerequisite for moving from self-awareness to discovering the shared human experience.

•             For Küng, ethical universality does not mean the abolition of religious and cultural particularities or their assimilation into a single human model; it is not a call for a new world religion or a unified culture but rather is based on the possibility of agreeing on a minimum set of shared values and ethical standards. Thus, pluralism does not become the antithesis of universality, but rather the arena within which its necessity is confirmed; for the need for ethical common ground arises from the very reality of difference