I'd like to get your ideas on variations of a topic that we are considering. The idea came from a seminar sponsored by the Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain. The paper is entitled: "Cosmopolitanism Discarded: Martha Nussbaum’s Patriotic Education and the Inward/Outward Distinction," by Marianna Papastephanou (University of Cyprus) presented at the Institute of Education in London on June 19th.
Here is an abstract of the paper:
In her famous text ‘Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism’ (1994), Martha Nussbaum deployed her arguments for a cosmopolitan education in ways that evoked a tension between cosmopolitanism and patriotism. Among others, Charles Taylor considered her treatment of patriotism vague and lopsided, and pointed out that patriotism is not as secondary or as dispensable as Nussbaum seemed to imply. Some years after the initial airing of her views, Nussbaum gradually reconsidered the notion of patriotism in texts that remained largely unknown and rarely discussed. In this seminar, I begin with a brief account: of her shift from cosmopolitanism to what she terms ‘a globally sensitive patriotism’; and of the task assigned to education within this framework. Then I discuss Nussbaum’s relevant articles and especially the examples she employs to illustrate the principles she proposes for teaching patriotism. I argue that the conception of patriotism that emerges in her later texts reflects broader preoccupations concerning patriotism in liberal and communitarian political philosophy/education. Such conceptualizations and preoccupations overlook what can be termed ‘an outward aspect of patriotism’. In light of this critique, I attempt to formulate an account of patriotism that may be in line (rather than in tension) with cosmopolitanism and quite different from current liberal or communitarian patriotic accounts.
There are many possible issues to be explored here and we would appreciate ideas from our readers on the different controversies that would make a good discussion for a future issue of the journal.
You can e-mail your ideas to cep-ejournal@wwu.edu.
