Choose Life: A Dialogue

Overview
"Choose Life: A Dialogue" stages a spirited exchange between Daisaku Ikeda, a proponent of Buddhist humanism and leader of a global lay movement, and Arnold J. Toynbee, the British historian known for sweeping analyses of civilizations. The conversation moves across big questions about the human condition, the responsibilities of individuals and societies, and the moral choices shaping the late twentieth century. Rather than abstract theorizing, the dialogue returns repeatedly to the practical implications of belief, education, and civic engagement.

Format and Voices
The book unfolds as a back-and-forth conversation, with Toynbee supplying historical perspective and cautioning about patterns of rise and decline, while Ikeda emphasizes human agency, ethical leadership, and the spiritual foundations of social change. Toynbee's approach brings wide-angle diagnosis of civilizations, drawing attention to structural forces and historical cycles. Ikeda offers a more intimate counterpoint, arguing that personal transformation and grassroots mobilization can alter course even amid systemic pressures. The interplay produces a dynamic balance of realism and moral urgency.

Major Themes
Central to the dialogue is the imperative encapsulated by the title: a moral decision to affirm life against forces that devalue it. Nuclear peril, environmental degradation, economic injustice, and the erosion of moral motivation appear as symptoms of a civilization at risk. Religion and spirituality are discussed not as retreats from the world but as resources for courage and compassion. Education and cultural creativity are elevated as means for cultivating citizens who can resist dehumanizing trends and generate constructive alternatives.

Historical and Cultural Context
Set against the Cold War and its nuclear standoff, the conversation reflects anxieties about annihilation and the need for new global consciousness. Toynbee's long view of civilizational patterns highlights dangers when societies lose creative responses to crisis. Ikeda responds by stressing the potential of intercultural exchange and humanistic Buddhism to foster resilience. The dialogue situates contemporary policy debates within broader moral and cultural frameworks, urging readers to see geopolitics in light of deeper ethical commitments.

Ethical and Political Proposals
The participants advocate concrete directions: mobilizing citizens for peace movements, prioritizing disarmament and human security over narrow national interests, reforming education to instill values of dignity and responsibility, and promoting economic systems that serve human welfare rather than mere accumulation. Ikeda's emphasis on personal practice and Toynbee's warnings about institutional failure converge on the idea that lasting change requires both structural reform and widespread moral renewal. The conversation repeatedly underscores the duty of intellectuals, religious leaders, and ordinary people to act.

Tone and Legacy
Tone alternates between sober warning and hopeful exhortation, combining Toynbee's cautionary breadth with Ikeda's insistence on proactive compassion. The dialogue's lasting appeal lies in its refusal to accept either fatalism or facile optimism; it insists on a deliberate choice to preserve and enhance human life. The book functions as a call to ethical vigilance and civic creativity, encouraging readers to translate principle into practice and to view cultural and spiritual resources as indispensable tools for shaping a more humane future.