For Love of Country?

84 Pages·2002·5.26 MB·English

by  Martha C. Nussbaum

DemocracyForumoperatesatalevel ofliteracyandrespon
sibilitywhichisalltoo rare in ourtime."-JohnKennethGalbraith
Otherbooksin the NEWDEMOCRACY FORUMseries:
TheNew Inequality: CreatingSolutionsforPoorAmerica,
byRichardB.Freeman
ACommunityofEquals: The ConstitutionalProtection ofNew
For Love
Americans,byOwenFiss
MetroFutures:EconomicSolutionsforCitiesand TheirSuburbs,
of Country?
byDanielD.LuriaandJoelRogers
Urg~ntTimes:PolicingandRightsin Inner-City Communities,
byTraceyL.MearesandDanM.Kahan
WillStandardsSavePublicEducation?byDeborahMeier
DoAmericansShop TooMuch?byJulietSchor
BeyondBachyardEnvironmentalism, byCharlesSabel,Archon
Fung,andBradleyKarkkainen
IsInequalityBad.forOurHealth?byNormanDaniels,Bruce
Martha C. Nussbaum
Kennedy,and IchiroKawachi
l'Vhat'sWrongwithaFreeLunch?byPhilippeVanParijs
Editedby Josh"aeonenforSosto"Review
AreElectionsforSale?byDavid Donnelly,JaniceFine,and
EllenS.Miller
WhoseVoteCounts?byRobertRichieandStevenHill
Contents
Editor'sPrefacebyJoshua Cohen • VII
BeaconPress
25BeaconStreet IntroductionbyMartha C. Nussbaum IX
Boston,Massachusetts02108-.28g2
www.beacon.org
I. MarthaC.Nussbaum
BeaconPressbooks PATRIOTISM AND COSMOPOLITANISM 3
arepublishedundertheauspicesof
theUnitarianUniversalistAssociationofCongregations.
Il. KwameAnthonyAppiah
©1996,200.2byMarthaC.NussbaumandjoshuaCohen COSMOPOLITAN PATRIOTS 21
Allrightsreserved BenjaminR.Barber
CONSTITUTIONAL FAITH 30
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica 0
0504°3 SisselaBok
TIllSbookisprintedonacid-freepaperthatmeetstheuncoatedpaperANSljNISO specificationsfor FROM PART TO WHOLE • 38
permanenceasrevisedin1992.
JudithButler
LibraryofCong;ressCataloging-in-PublicationData UNIVERSALITY IN CULTURE 45
Nussbaum,MarthaCraven.
Forloveofcountryl'/MarthaC.Nussbaum;editedbyJoshuaCohenforBostonreview. RichardFalk
p. cm~~(Newdemocracyforum)
Originallypublished.POI'loveofcountry:debatingthelimitsofpatriotism. c1996. REVISIONING COSMOPOLITANISM • 53
neweditor'spref. andnewinrrorl. bytheauthor.
NathanGlazer
LIMITS OF LOYALTY 61
~",no';"n
2:Nationalism.3.Internationalism.I.Cohen,Joshua. II.Title.III.Series.
AmyGutman
2002066453 DEMOCRATIC CITIZENSHIP 66
GertnldeHimmelfarb
THE ILLUSIONS OP COSMOPOLITANISM • 72
MichaelW.McConnell
DON T NEGLECT THE LITTLE PLATOONS • 78 Joshua Cohen
RobertPinsky
Editor's Preface
EROS AGAINST ESPERANTO • 85
Hilary Putnam
MUST WE CHOOSE BETWEEN PATRIOTISM
AND UNIVERSAL REASON? • 91
Elaine Scarry
THE DIFFICULTY OF IMAGINING / IN HIS GREAT RIVERSIDE CHURCH SPEECH OF
OTHER PEOPLE • 98 April '967, Martin LutherKing.jr.,declared his reasons
for opposing the Vietnam War.The war was, he said, a
AmartyaSen
disasterforBlackAmericans,poisonousforthe country,
HUMANITYAND CITIZENSHIP • 111
andabove all anightmare"forvictims ofournationand
Charles Taylor
forthose itcallsenemy."Respondingto moral demands
WHY DEMOCRACY NEEDS PATRIOTISM • 119 that lie "beyond the calling ofrace or nation or creed,"
ImmanuelWallerstein Kingsaidthat hehadcometospeakforthese "enemies."
NEITHER PATRIOTISM NOR Speakingoutwasthe "privilege and the burdenofallof
COSMOPOLITANISM • 122 us who deem ourselves boundby allegiancesand loyal
tieswhichare broader and deeper than nationalismand
MichaelWalzer
which go beyond our nation's self-defined goals and
SPHERES OF AFFECTION • 125
positions."
m. MarthaC.Nussbaum
In her essay "Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism"
REPLY • 131 which provoked the debate recorded in this book
Martha Nussbaum defends the moral position towhich
Notes . 145 King gavesuch powerful expression. According to this
Contributors • 153 cosmopolitanoutlook,ourhighestallegiancemust be to
the communityofhumankind,and thefirstprinciplesof
ourpracticalthoughtmust respecttheequalworthofall
members ofthatcommunity.Cosmopolitanismis acon
troversialview,one tendencyofmoral thoughtopposed
R'S PREFACE
hiio!t"Ofoutlooksthatresistitsidealofworldcitizenshipinthename
sellsibiliti,,, and attachments rooted in group affiliation or na
tradition. The responses to Nussbaum's essay reflect these
once thecomplexityofthese issues
Martha C. Nussbaum
andtheimportanceoftheirresolution.
Thisbook,then, presentscompetingphilosophies-firstprinci Introduction:
ples connected to conduct through complex links ofhistorical cir
Cosmopolitan Emotions?
cumstance,sociallocation,and individualjudgment.But asKing's
condemnation ofthe wardemonstrates, those connections areno
less real for being indirect. The disagreement about cosmopoli
tanismispracticalaswellastheoretical,withimportantimplications
forcontemporarydebate aboutprotectionism,immigration,human IN THE AFTERMATH OF SEPTEMBER i i , WE HAVE
rights, foreign intervention, development assistance, and what we all experienced strong.emotions for our country: fear,
should teach in our schools. In exploring the merits ofcosmopoli ()utrage,g!!~f,astonishment. Ourmedia portraythedis
tanismasmoraltheoryandpersonalconviction,MarthaNussbaum aster as a tragedy that has happened to our nation, and
andher respondentsjoinphilosophicaldebate topublicdiscussion, that is how we very naturally see it. So too the ensuing
enrichingeach. war:itiscalled"America'sNewWar,"andmost news re
ports focus on themeaning ofevents forus and ourna
NUSSBAUM'S LEAD ESSAY FIRST APPEARED IN BOSTON tion. Wethink these events are important because they
Review(OctoberjNovember1994),alongwith twenty-nine replies. concernus. Notjusthuman lives, butAmerican lives. In
Eleven of those replies are included here, some substantially ex one way,the crisis has expanded our imaginations. We
panded, along with five additional contributions. The issues ad findourselvesfeelingsympathyformanypeoplewho did
dressed-abouttheplace oflove ofcountryinamorallydecentlife, not even cross our minds before: NewYorkfirefighters,
and the tensions betweenlocal emotional attachments and cosmo that gayrugbyplayer who helpedbringdown the fourth
politanmoral principles-tookon new and compellingurgencyaf plane,bereaved familiesofso many national and ethnic
terthehorribleslaughterofinnocentsonSeptemberII.Nussbaum's origins. vVe even sometimes noticewith anew attention
response to those awful events,provided in anewintroduction to thelivesofArab-Americansamongus,orfeelasympathy
thebook,remindsusthatmoralthoughtismostimportantwhenthe with aSikh taxi driver who complains about customers
dangerswefacearegreatest. who tellhim togohome to"hiscountry,"eventhoughhe
cametothe UnitedStatesasapoliticalrefugeefromper
secutioninthePunjab.Sometimesourcompassioneven
crosses that biggest line of all, the national boundary.
EventshaveledmanyAmericans to sympathize with the
---_..-----
ON Introduction . Xl
and girls ofAfghanistan, for example, in a way that many chantleftoverfrom the Olympichockeymatchinwhichthe United
[endinlstshadbeentrying togetpeopletodoforalongtime,without States defeated Russia. This chant seemed to express a wish for
Americato defeat,abase,hurniliateits enemies. Indeed,itsoonbe
All too often, however, OUf imaginations remain oriented to the came ageneralway ofexpressingthe desiretocrush one's enemies,
local; indeed,this orientationis implicitin the unusuallevelofour whoever they were. When the umpire made a bad call that went
alarm. Theworldhas come toastop-inaway that itneverhas for againstthe White Sox,the same gronpin the standstnrnedtohim,
Americans, when disaster befalls human beings in other places. chanting(,(,U-S-A."Inotherwords,anyonewhocrossesusiseviland
Floods, earthquakes, cyclones-and the daily deaths of thousands shonld be crnshed. It's not surprising that Stoic philosopher and
from preventablemalnutritionanddisease-none ofthese typically RomanemperorMarclls Aurelius,trying toeducatehimselftohave
makes the American world come to a standstill, none elicits a an equal respect for all hnman beings, reports that his first lesson
tremendous outpouringofgriefand compassion. Theplight ofin was"nottobe afanofthe Greensor Blues attheraces,or thelight
nocent civilians in the current war evokes a similarly uneven and armedorheavy-armedgladiatorsatthe Circus."
flickeringresponse. Compassion is an emotion rooted, probably,in our biological
Andworse:oursensethatthe"us"isallthatmatterscaneasilyflip heritage. (Although biologists once portrayed animal behavior as
overinto ademonizingofanimagined"them,"agroupofoutsiders eg?~~,~i~,primatologists bynowrecognize the existence of~~~,~is~ic
who areimaginedasenemiesoftheinvulnerabilityand theprideof ~-~~ti~nin apes,and itmay wellexistinotherspeciesas~ell.rBlit
theall-important"us."CompassionforourfellowAmericanscanall thishistorydoesnotmeanthat compassionisdevoidofthought.In
too easilyslideoverinto anattitude thatwants Americatocomeout •fact,asAristotlearguedlongago,humancompassionstandardlyre
on top, defeatingor subordinatingotherpeoples or nations.Anger quires three thoughts: that a serious bad thing has happened to
attheterroriststhemselvesisperfectlyappropriate;soistheattempt someone else; thatthis had eventwas not(or not entirely) theper
tobringthem tojustice.But "us-them"thinkingdoesn'talwaysstay son'sownfault;and thatwe ourselvesarevulnerableinsimilarways.
focused onthe originalissue; ittoo easilybecomesageneralcallfor Thuscompassionforms apsychologicallinkbetweenourown self
Americansupremacy,thehumiliationof"theother." interestand the reality ofanotherperson's goodor ill. For that rea
One vivid example of this slide tookplace at a baseball game I son it is amorallyvaluable emotion-whenit gets things right. Of
wenttoatChicago'sComiskeyPark,thefirstgameplayedthereafter ten,however,the thoughts involved in the emotion,and therefore
..
September II-and a game against the Yankees, so there was a the emotion itself, go astray, failing to link people at a distance to
heightened awareness ofthe situationofNew Yorkandits people. one's own current possibilities and vulnerabilities. (Rousseau said
Things began well, with a moving ceremony commemorating the that kings don't feel compassion for their subjects because they
firefighters who had lost theirlives,and honoringlocal firefighters count on never being human, subject to the vicissitudes of life.)
whohadgone toNewYorkafterwardtohelpout.Therewaseven a Sometimes,too,compassiongoeswrongby gettingtheseriousness
lot ofcheering when the Yankees took the field, a highly unusual ofthe badeventwrong: sometimes,for example,wejustdon'ttake
transcendenceof'localattachments.Butasthegamewentonandthe veryseriouslythehungerand illness ofpeoplewho aredistantfrom
beer flowed, one heard, increasingly, the chant "U-S-A, U-S-A," a us. Theseerrors arelikelyto be builtinto the natureofcompassion
N Introduction . xin
rlevelonsin childhoodandthenadulthood: weform intenseat
the interconnectedness ofallpeoples,and ofthe fact thatwemust
i~¢bir<ents to the local first, and only graduallylearn to have com
join forces with people in allnations to defeat terrorists and bring
""SSllon forpeople who areoutside OUf own immediate circle. For them tojustice.Atother times,however,we see simplifyingslogans
Americans, thatexpansion ofmoral concern stops atthe na
("AmericaFightsBack")thatportraythesituationintermsofagood
tional boundary.
"us"crusadingagainst anevil '"them"-failingto acknowledge,for
Mostofus are broughtup to believe that allhumanbeings have
example, that people in all nations have strong reasons to oppose
equal worth. At least the world's major religions and most secular
terrorism,andthatthefighthas manyactiveallies.
philosophiestellusso.Butouremotionsdon'tbelieveit.Wemourn
Suchsimplisticthinkingismorallywrong,becauseitencourages
forthoseweknow,notfor thosewedon'tknow.Andmostofusfeel
us to ignore the impactofour actions on innocentcivilians,and to
deep emotions aboutAmerica, emotionswe don't feel aboutIndia,
focus too little on the all-importantprojectofhumanitarianrelief.It
orRussia,orRwanda. Inand ofitself, this narrowness ofOUfcmo is also counterproductive. Wenow understand, or ought to, thatif
tionallivesisprobablyacceptableandmaybeevengood.Weneedto
wehadthoughtmoreaboutsupportfortheeducationalandhuman
buildoutwardfrommeaningswe understand,orelse ourmorallife
itarian infrastructure of Pakistan,for example,funding good local
would be empty ofurgency. Aristotle long ago said, plausibly, that
nongovernmentalorganizations therethewayseveralEuropeanna
the citizensin Plato'sidealcity,askedto careforallcitizensequally,
tionstypicallydo in India,youngpeopleofthatnationmightpossi
would actually care fornone, since careis learned in small groups
bly have been educated in a climate ofrespect for religiousplural
withtheirmoreintenseattachments.Ifwewant ourlifewithothers
ism, the equalityofwomen,and othervalues thatwe nghtlypnze,
tocontain strongpassions-forjusticeinaworld ofinjustice,foraid
insteadofhavingfundamentalistmadrasasastheironlyeducational
in a world where many go withoutwhat they need-we would do
alternative. Ourpolicyin South Asia has showed for manyyears a
welltobegin,atleast,withourfamiliar strongemotionstowardfam
gross failure ofimaginationand sympathy; we basically thoughtin
ily,city,andcountry.
terms ofcoldwar values,ignoringthe real livesofpeople towhose
Butconcernshouldnotstopwiththeselocal attachments.Amer
prospects our actions could make a great difference. Such crude
icans areunfortunatelypronetosuchemotionalnarrowness.So are
thinkingismorallyobtuse;itisalsobadlycalculated toadvanceany
allpeople,butthepowerandgeographicalsizeofAmericahavelong
goodcause wewishtoadvance,inaworldwhere allhumanlivesare
contributedtoitsparticularlystrongisolationistroots.Whenatleast
increasinglyinterdependent.
some otherswere findingways torescuetheJews duringthe Holo
Compassionbeg,-inswith the local. But ifour moral natures and
caust,America's inactivityand (general)lackofconcernwasculpa
ouremotionalnaturesaretoliveinanysortofharmonywemustfind
ble, especiallyin proportion toAmericanpower.IttookPearl Har
devices throughwhich to extend ourstrongemotionsandourabil
bortogetuseventocometotheaidofourallies.Whengenocidewas
ity to imagine the situationofothers to the world ofhumanlifeasa
afootinRwanda,ourown senseofself-sufficiencyandinvulnerabil
whole. Sincecompassioncontains thought,itcan be educated. We
ity stoppedus from imaginingthe Rwandans aspeoplewho might
can takethis disasterasoccasionfornarrowingour focus,distrust
beus;wewere thereforeculpablyinactivetowardthem.Sotoointhe
ing the rest of the world, and feeling solidarity with Arneric~ns
presentsituation.Sometimes we see averylaudable recognition of
alone. Orwe can takeit asanoccasion forexpansionofour ethical
Afi;."ns. Seeinghowvulnerable our greatcountryis, we canlearn
;sqlrhelhlng about the vuluerability all humau beings share, about
itislikefor distant others to lose those theylove to adisaster
of their own making, whether it is hunger or flood or ethnic
cleansing.
Therearehopefulsignsinthepresentsituation,particularlyinat
tempts toeducatetheAmericanpublicaboutIslam,aboutthehisto
ries ofAfghanistan and Pakistan, and about the situation and atti
tudes ofArab-Americansinthiscountry.Butweneedtomakethese
educational efforts consistent and systematic, not just fear-moti
vated responsestoanimmediatecrisis.
Our media and our systems ofeducatiou havelong givenus far
too little information about lives outside our borders,stuntingOUf I
moral imaginations. The situation of America's women and its
racial, ethnic, and sexual minorities has to some extent worked its
wayinto curricula,atvariouslevels,andintoOUfpopularmedia.We
havedonelesswellwithparts oftheworld thatareunfamiliar.This
isnotsurprising,becausesuchteachingrequiresalot ofinvestment
innew curricularinitiatives, and such television programmingre
quiresacertaintemporaryinattentiontothecompetitionforratings.
But we nowknowthatwe live inacomplex,interconnectedworld,
andweknowourownignorance.As Socratessaid,thisisatleastthe
beginningofprogress. At this time ofnational crisis we can renew
ourcommitmenttotheequalworthofhumanity,demandingmedia,
and schools,that nourishand expandour imaginationsby present
ing non-American lives as deep, rich, and emotion-worthy. "Thus
fromourweakness," saidRousseauofsuchaneducation,"ourfrag
ilehappinessisborn."Or,atleast,itmightbeborn.
Martha C. Nussbaum
Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism
When anyone asked him wherehe camefrom, hesaid,
In Rabindranath Tagore's novel The Home and the World, the
"Jam a citizen ofthe world." young wifeBimala,entranced by the patriotic rhetoric ofher hus
DiogenesLaertius, LifeofDiogenestheCynic band's friend Sandip, becomes an eager devotee ofthe Swadeshi
movement, which has organized a boycott offoreign goods. The
sloganofthe movementisBandeMataram (HailMotherland). Bi
malacomplains that her husband, the cosmopolitan Hindu land
lord Nikhil, iscoolin his devotiontothecause:
And yetitwas not thatmy husband refused to supportSi.lJll:deshi, or
was in anywayagainst the Cause. Onlyhe hadnot been ablewhole
heartedlytoacceptthespiritofBandeMataram.
HIamwilling,"he said, "to servemycountry;butmyworshipI re
serve for~gJ:1~_"Yhich is fargreaterthanmycountry. To worship my
countryasagod is tobringacurseuponit."
Americans have frequently supported the principle of Bande
Mataram, giving the fact ofbeing American a special saliencein
moral and politicaldeliberation,and prideinaspecificallyAmeri
can identity and a specifically American citizenship a special
c. NUSSBAUM
Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism 5
among the motivations to political action. I believe, as do
and his character Nikhil, that this emphasis on patriotic tion rather than considering ties of obligation and commitment
1 , . "
is both morally dangerous and, ultimately, subversive of thatjoin America to the rest of the world. As WIthRortyspI,ece,
someoftheworthy goals patriotismsets out toserve-forexample, the primary contrast drawn in the project was between a pol:tlcs
thegoalofnationalunityin devotion toworthymoralideals ofjus based on ethnic and racial and religious difference and a politics
ticeand equality.Thesegoals,Ishallargue, would bebetterserved basedon asharednationalidentity. Whatweshare asbothrational
byanideal thatisin anycasemore adequate tooursituationin the and mutually dependent human beings was simply not on the
contemporaryworld, namely the very old ideal ofthe cosmopoli agenda. ,
tan, thepersonwhose allegianceistotheworldwidecommunityof Onemight wonder, however,how far thepoliticsofnationalism
humanbeings.
reallyis from the politics of difference. The Home and the World
Myarticulationoftheseissues ismotivated, inpart,bymyexpe (better known,perhaps,in SatyajitRay'shauntingfilmofthe~ame
rienceworkingoninternationalquality-of-lifeissuesin aninstitute title) is a tragic story ofthe defeat ofa reasonable and principled
fordevelopment economicsconnectedwith the UnitedNations. It cosmopol1itam.sm by the forces ofnationalism and ethnocentrism,
is also motivated by the renewal ofappeals to the nation, and na Ibeliev~ that Tagorcs~es deeply~hel1h~~bservesth~t,atbottom,
tionalpride,in somerecentdiscussionsofAmericancharacter and natr'oIna'Is.m'and·''.e.thnocentri.c./par.t._icul/arism;•.a.re.n.ot.a.lie,n toone.an-
American education. In awell-known op-ed piece in the.NewYork other, boutakin:-thatto givesupport tonationalistsentimentssub-
'-!Eg~~,
Times (13 February 1994), philosopher Richard Rorty verttss, ultimately even the values that hold a nation .toge.ther, be 1
di~9~in
Americans, especially the Americanleft,not to patriotism cause it substitutes a colorful idol for the substantive umve~sa
asavalue, and indeed to give central importance to"the emotion values ofj'-!~tic~andright. Oncesomeone has said, IamanIndian
ofnationalpride" and "a sense ofshared nationalidentity." Rorty first a citizen of the world second, once he or she has made that
argues thatwe cannot even criticize ourselves well unless we also morally questionable move of self-definition by a morally Irrele
"rejoice" in OUf American identity and define ourselves funda vant characteristic, then what, indeed, will stop that person from
mentallyin termsofthat identity. Rortyseems tohold that thepri saying asTagore's charactersso quickly learntosay,Iam aHmdu
mary alternative to a politics based on patriotism and national first and an Indian second, or I am an upper-caste landlord first,
identityiswhat he callsa"politicsofdifference," onebased on in and'a Hindu second? Only the cosmopolitan stance of the land
ternal divisions among America's ethnic, racial, religious, and lord Nikhil-so boringlyflatin the eyesofhis young WIfe B:mala
othersubgroups. He nowhere considers the possibilityofa more and his passionate nationalist friend Sandip-has the promIse of
internationalbasis forpoliticalemotionand concern. transcending these divisions, because only this stance asks us to
This isno isolated case. Rorty's piece responds to and defends giveour first allegiance to what is morally good-~d that which,
SheldonHackney's recentcallfora"nationalconversation" todis being good, Ican commendassuchtoallhuma~bemgs. .
cuss American identity.I As aparticipantin its earlyphase, I was Proponents of nationalism in politics and In education fre
made vividly aware that the project, as initially conceived; pro quently make a weak concession to cosmopolitanism. They may
posed an inward-looking task, bounded by the borders ofthe na- argue, for example, that although nations should '~ general base
education and political deliberation on shared national values, a
C. NUSSBAUM Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism • 7
.(;dfuIuitm"nt tobasic human rights should be part ofany national conventional Greek male; instead, he defined himselfin terms of
education system, and that this commitment will in a sense hold more universal aspirations and COQ~~!ns. The Stoics, who fol
na.tions together," Thisseems tobe afaircommentonpracn'- lowed hislead, further developed his image ofthe kosmoupolites
cal reality; and the emphasis on human rights ' t inl
. . IS eer ai y neces- (world citizen) arguingthat each ofusdwells, ineffect,in twocom
sary foraworld Inwhich nationsinteractall th ti (I
e ime on terms et munities-the local community of our birth, and the community
ushope) ofjusticeand mutualrespect.
ofhuman argument and aspiration that "is truly great and truly
to
But isit sufficient? As students here grow up, isit sufficientfor ~ommon, in whichwe lookneither to this corner nor thai, but
them to learn that they are above all citizens ofthe United States measure the boundaries of our nation by the sun" (Seneca, De
butthat they ought torespectthe basic humanrights ofcitizens of Otio). Itisthis communitythat is,fundamentally, the sourceofour
India,BohVIa,Nigeria, andNorway?Orshould they-as I think moral obligations. With respect to the most basic moral values,
'~
addition to gIVIng special attention to the history and current such asjustice, "We should regard allhumanbeings as ourfellow
situanonoftheirown nation,learnagood deal more than theyfre citizens and neighbors" (Plutarch, On theFortunes ofAlexander).
quently do about the rest ofthe world in which they II'v ab t
Weshouldregard ourdeliberations as,first and foremost, deliber
I di d Boli e, ou
n ra an olivia and Nigeria and Norway and their histories ations abouthumanproblemsofpeopleinparticularconcrete situ
pr~blems,
andcomparativesuccesses?Should theylearn onlytha: ations, notproblems growingoutofanationalidentitythat isalto
citizensofIndiahaveequal basic humanrights, orshouldtheyalso gether unlike that ofothers. Diogenes knew that the invitation to
~ear~ab~ut
the problemsofhungerandpollutionin India, andthe think asaworldcitizenwas, inasense,aninvitation tobe anexile
ImphcatIOns ofthese problems for the larger issues ofglobal hun from the cOIIl~()~~()rp~~~~g~,~~,IIl and its easy sentiments, to see our
ger and global ecology? Most important, should they be taught own ways oflife from the point of view ofjustice and the good.
that they are, above all, citizens ofthe United States, or should Theaccidentofwhere one isbornisjustthat,anaccident; anyhu
mste~d
they be taughtthat they are, aboveall, citizens ofaworld of man beingmighthave been born in any nation. Recognizing this,
human beIngs, and that, while they happen to be situated in the his Stoic successors held, we should not allow differences of na
Umted State.s, they have to share this world with the citizens of tionality or class or ethnic membership or even gender to erect
other countnesPI suggest four arguments for the second concept barriers betweenus and our fellowhumanbeings. Weshould rec
c~srnopolitan
ofeducation,,whIchI call education. Butfirst I.intro ognize humanity wherever it occurs, and give its fundamental
d~c~
a hIsto,:cal digression, which traces cosmopolitanism to its ingredients, reason and moral capacity, our first allegiance and
~n.d
ongIns, In the processrecover some excellentarguments that respect.;
have traditIOnallysupportedit.
This clearlydidnotmeanthat the $toisswereproposingtheab
olitionoflocaland nationalforms ofpoliticalorganizationand the
creation ofaworld state. Theirpoint was even more radical: that
enes
When Diog the Cynic replied, "I am a citizen ofthe world" we shouldgiveourfirst allegiance tono mere form ofgovernmeut,
~eant,
he, apparently, that he refused to be defined by his local
no temporal power, but to the moral community made up by the
ongms andgroupmemberships, so centraltothe self-imageofthe humanity ofall human beings. The idea ofthe world citizen is