Martha C. Nussbaum: Cultivating Humanity- A Classical Defense

Martha C. Nussbaum: Cultivating Humanity: A Classical Defense of Reform
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harvard University Press; revised ed. edition (October 1, 1998)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 328 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0674179498
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674179493
Lexile Measure ‏ : ‎ 1440L
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 13.8 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1 x 9.5 inches

How can higher education today create a community of critical thinkers and searchers for truth that transcends the boundaries of class, gender, and nation? Martha C. Nussbaum, philosopher and classicist, argues that contemporary curricular reform is already producing such "citizens of the world" in its advocacy of diverse forms of cross-cultural studies. Her vigorous defense of "the new education" is rooted in Seneca's ideal of the citizen who scrutinizes tradition critically and who respects the ability to reason wherever it is found--in rich or poor, native or foreigner, female or male.
Drawing on Socrates and the Stoics, Nussbaum establishes three core values of liberal education--critical self-examination, the ideal of the world citizen, and the development of the narrative imagination. Then, taking us into classrooms and campuses across the nation, including prominent research universities, small independent colleges, and religious institutions, she shows how these values are (and in some instances are not) being embodied in particular courses. She defends such burgeoning subject areas as gender, minority, and gay studies against charges of moral relativism and low standards, and underscores their dynamic and fundamental contribution to critical reasoning and world citizenship.