Martha C. Nussbaum: Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform in Liberal Education. Cambridge, Massachusetts and London: Harvard University Press. 1997. 301 pp. $28.50

Abstract

Martha Nussbaum argues that the purpose of liberal education is to cultivate humanity. In her view, this is the same as educating for world citizenship. But, what does it mean to cultivate humanity? According to Nussbaum one cultivates humanity by developing three capacities. The first is the capacity for critical self-examination and critical thinking about one’s own culture and traditions. The second is the capacity to see oneself as a human being who is bound to all humans with ties of concern. The third is the capacity for narrative imagination – the ability to empathize with others and to put oneself in another’s place. As one develops these capacities one becomes increasingly suited for world citizenship.