Arnold J. Toynbee, raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition, and Daisaku Ikeda, a product of East Asian culture and a Buddhist, both recognize that human survival is threatened by our own capacity to destroy the natural environment and by the imbalance between our moral immaturity and technological prowess. The two men posit an underlying choice in the way humankind can respond to such universal challenges as burgeoning population, dwelling natural resources, and technological sophistication. They explore the dilemma facing the individual and society: self-mastery or self-destruction. Their search is less for abstract answers than for the concrete meaning to ordinary people of social and economic development.

Compiled from two years of discussion and correspondence between the authors, this volume has been widely acclaimed as a major contribution to the ongoing debate on the flaws of modern civilization.