(5) The United States today promotes democracy in those parts of the world where democracy has not yet made inroads. But the United States should not also undertake to promote the humanities in those parts of the world, as it would be expected to if Nussbaum's thesis that democracy needs the humanities were credible and gained substantial support.
(6) In his futuristic novel BRAVE NEW WORLD (1932), Aldous Huxley went to great lengths to imagine a future world in which the humanities had been shucked off -- along with democracy and political liberalism and individualism and Christianity. But Nussbaum is not ready yet to embrace in principle the brave new world in which the humanities have been shucked off. Instead, like John the Savage in Huxley's novel, she wants to conserve the humanities, especially the humanizing goal of humanistic studies.
Just as John the Savage took his heroic stand against the world system, Nussbaum wants to stand heroically against the world system today, and she wants to recruit some of us to join her heroic effort of non-violent resistance to the prevailing world system in our day. But will she enjoy much success, or will she fail as John the Savage does?
My Two-Cents-Worth
To round off this call for a national debate with Nussbaum about her thesis, I should contribute my two-cents-worth to the debate.
I say that for the American experiment in democracy to flourish, the American voters need to be philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, not seriously under-educated people like Socrates' accusers, Melitus, Anytus, and Lycon.
As a result, I say that philosophy should be central to formal education in the United States and to life in the United States. In short, I support Nussbaum's emphasis on teaching philosophy.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
