Pansophia; The Charter and UN Cosmopolitan Philosophers
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Of late my old friend from middle and high school, Doug Campbell, gave me a heads-up on a philosopher I had not heard of, one Martha Nussbaum. From what I gleaned from the Wikipedia article on her, she was more or less an unofficial philosopher-in-residence for the United Nations during the 80's and 90's.
I was interested particularly in an essay of hers called "Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism," which is available on the Web. It was written in protest to the garden variety Amerocentric provincialism of some intellectuals in the early 1990's. Towards the end, she makes an interesting point that since ancient times those who would be world citizens have been isolated from what should be the greatest fraternity of them all, the human race in general. But localism and provincialism blocks them out.
"Becoming a citizen of the world is often a lonely business. It is, in effect, as Diogenes said, a kind of exile -- from the comfort of local truths, from the warm nestling feeling of patriotism, from the absorbing drama of pride in oneself and one's own. In the writings of Marcus Aurelius (as in those of his American followers Emerson and Thoreau) one sometimes feels a boundless loneliness, as if the removal of the props of habit and local boundaries had left life bereft of a certain sort of warmth and security. If one begins life as a child who loves and trusts its parents, it is tempting to want to reconstruct citizenship along the same lines, finding in an idealized image of a nation a surrogate parent who will do one's thinking for one. Cosmopolitanism offers no such refuge; it offers only reason and the love of humanity, which may seem at times less colorful than other sources of belonging." (Martha Nussbaum, Patriotism and Cosmopolitanism, Boston Review 1994)
What we need, clearly, is for world citizens to come together and celebrate cosmopolitan ideals. This began to happen in the Esperanto movement, especially in early days. In the annual congress there was a feeling among many that for the first time we could come together from anywhere in the world on neutral linguistic territory. We could transcend the baggage of patriotism and celebrate our commonality as people, not nationals. When I first learned Esperanto, I got this feeling from correspondence. I had never realized what a barrier English is, and what a lot of ideological baggage it carries with it.
Cosmopolitan religion should be another common basis for super-patriotic fervor. If the belief in God were stronger there would be great joy for people of all faiths to come together to celebrate our commonality. The prophet Isaiah predicted that this would happen. "They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Yahweh, as the waters cover the sea." (Isa 11:9, WEB) Almost every night our family recites the words that Baha'u'llah addressed to our elected representatives,
"That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no wise be achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful and inspired Physician. This, verily, is the truth, and all else naught but error." (Summons, 1.176, p. 90)
When you recite this aloud the words "cause" and "faith" are not capitalized. In view of that, I often think after our recital of this passage how much we all, Baha'is included, need to think of the common religion of all humanity, and not just our own distinctive beliefs. The Master, especially in His Talks, emphasized this "one common Faith" as something in which people of all faiths and backgrounds can participate. The pillars of religion are always the same no matter what, prayer and fasting. Variances lie only in opinions and details, the particular names we invoke when we express our belief in outer, less essential activities. In that cosmopolitan sense, we are all strict adherents of that "one common Faith."
As a writer, that is the audience I should be writing for, don't you think?
I am not a professional philosopher, of course, but perhaps the United Nations should address this directly. Rather than having unofficial philosophers (like Martha Nussbaum was for a while), why not appoint philosophers officially? I know that UNICEF and other organs of the UN have spokespersons and goodwill ambassadors, but we need a more rigorous approach. The world body should make a more serious effort at proving the arguments for cosmopolitanism and world citizenship. If they succeed and get a following, maybe cosmopolitans would not feel so lonely in future. Why not pick out our brightest young minds, train them, and send them out as a body of professional philosophers and logicians to the media to promote things like the universal aspects of religion, or the need to refer universal issues to the world level? Have them lead forums and conferences on world citizenship to get people talking about what goes on beyond national borders.
In a sense, this has already happened with the slow but steady grassroots growth of the Earth Charter. This document must have an important place in any future cosmopolitanism. In the introduction to a book on the Charter one of its founding leaders, Mikhail Gorbachev, explains its place as the "third pillar" of the United Nations, the pillar dealing with the relationship of humans to nature.
"... The first pillar is the Charter of the United Nations, which regulates the relations among states and thus sets the rules for their behavior in order to secure peace and stability. The second pillar is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which regulates the relations between states and individuals, and guarantees to all citizens a set of rights which their respective governments should provide. The importance of these two documents cannot be overestimated. But it has become obvious that another document is missing, one which would regulate the relations among states, individuals, and nature by defining the human duties towards the environment." (Earth Charter in Action, The Third Pillar of Sustainable Development, p. 10)
We desperately need official UN philosophers who can teach the foundations of these three pillars of internationalism. They do not need to become salesmen or revivalist preachers, just skilled teachers. I was so ravished by the skill that John Mighton demonstrates in turning young children on to the dry and difficult discipline of mathematics.
If he can do that, how hard would it be to teach cosmopolitanism? All we need to do is present it correctly in a group setting.
Baha'is are familiar with the Master's explanation of why we engage in group prayer: the following idea of "collective effervescence" seems very similar to his explanation how group praise of God acts as a lens which magnifies the effects. I was reminded of this in Mighton's book, where he recalls how when he worked out his math curriculum while tutoring individual pupils he doubted if it would work in a classroom setting. Fortunately, it proved even more effective. This is because, he explains, of the dynamics of a group, which under the correct conditions magnifies the effects of a given impulse.
"In the nineteenth century the sociologist Emile Durkheim observed a phenomenon in crowds that he called "collective effervescence." According to Durkheim, people's interactions "attain their greatest intensity when they are assembled together and are in immediate relations with one another, when they all partake of the same idea and the same sentiments." The effect he describes may partially account for the success of the JUMP method and the way it works so well at closing the gap between students. When used properly, the JUMP materials are designed to help students "partake of the same idea and the same sentiments." When students work together on the same topic and have a chance to answer the same questions, put their hands up at the same time, work on the same bonus questions and see the solution to a problem at the same time, they experience the collective effervescence that Durkheim described." (Mighton, End of Ignorance, p. 188)
He goes on to explain that many children never get the chance to show off to others, and that is what his JUMP method provides in a classroom.
But what single educational philosophy can unite us in "one common faith?" What program should the UN corps of philosopher teachers teach? Of course, our first impulse as Baha'is is to suggest the Baha'i social principles. Unfortunately, until God is better understood this will inevitably be perceived as a partisan platform. Besides, it does not have a name, other than "Baha'i." Jan Amos Comenius's program does have a name, pansophism, and it has the advantage of being classical, hundreds of years old, yet it is surprisingly modern.
"The philosophy of pansophism presented the goal of education as the development of universal knowledge among all people, including women and children, and all nations. Comenius envisaged educated people as those who sought knowledge from all sources in order to become more like the God in whose image they were made--omniscient and universally compassionate."
Here God, the most common belief, according to opinion polls, in the world, is presented as the common basis of educational philosophy. And look over each of the points of pansophism. How harmonious they are both to our Baha'i principles and to what UN philosophers could be teaching to small groups around the planet.
Basic Principles of Pansophism
1. An absolutely new vision of the whole, of the entire world is required.
2. A picture of the world should be viewed as unity, in its inherent organization and reality.
3. This will result in "Universalis sapientia" ("Universal knowledge") which is interconnected by a unity of its laws acting throughout all disciplines and deductible from each of them.
4. "Universal knowledge" will make it possible to clarify, in future, individual and opposed truths and, simultaneously, unite all views within a common objective.
5. "Pansofia" will extend all over the world opening boundless opportunities for cognition and perfection.
6. When the reality is understood as a unique living organism, all its components reveal their true meaning and the reality itself reveals its laws to people, they will come to a universal harmony.
7. Man should apprehend all that and create harmony in himself.
8. Man will acquire a universal key and guideline to further cognition and discoveries.
9. "Pansofia" is a true vision and understanding of the world, it should become accessible for all peoples of the Earth in their native languages.
10. If Man lives in truth and performs his part in the universal harmony chorus, then all people would come to a concord, to peace.
(from: Kytka's Pick's John Amos Comenius - Father of Modern Education, <http://www.waldorfhomeschoolers.com/comenius.htm>)
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