Week Two - World Perspective

I have a world view that can best be explained as partial cosmopolitanism; meaning, I feel that I have an obligation to others beyond family and citizenship. It goes beyond just valuing humanity, but actually taking an interest in other cultures and beliefs by engaging in conversations, basically sharing. Because I think that there are universal values, obviously varying in a multitude of ways, that allow a connection because there are more similarities than differences. Getting back to the obligation part, having a cosmopolitanism world view means finding the root of a problem (such as hunger in conjunction to a dictatorship, etc) and coming up with long term solutions.

My world views are based on my upbringing, media, experiences and education. I feel that my current education is like an editor, going over my views and beliefs, discarding the irrational, updating the rational and creating new beliefs. So education is the most influential force for me right now. What I try to do now is take on multiple perspectives of an issue, questioning it from different sides – basically the Socratic Method to foster critical thinking. It can be difficult because I find that some world views are contradictory in practice and/or writing.

Week One

“Men have differed as to whether you should have one wife or four. But they have always agreed that you must not simply have any woman you liked” (pg. 801).

C.S. Lewis says that in regards to a shared, or not totally different, morality that binds all human cultures.  I’m not arguing that the Law of Human Nature doesn’t exist, but that instead this example he uses as evidence can be argued because there have been cultures, especially those extremely patriarchal, that have sold their daughters to the highest bidder. I admit that I’m unsure of the cultures that practice that today and to what extent, but I think that particular example was the weakest support of his claim.

In regards to the main point of the reading, his claims that we share an underlying connection of morality and that we continuously break it yet hold others to a higher standard, my overall response is that he is correct.  I understand that there are diverse cultures, and each reflect their values through a dominant form (such as media or household) but our response to those values fits what C.S. Lewis calls The Law of Human Nature. Though values differ to an extent, there is the human continuity across cultures of holding others to a higher standard, even appealing to a shared sense of morality to the dominant values. Understanding the nature of ourselves is what Lewis calls “the foundation of all clear thinking about ourselves and the universe we live in” (pg. 802). So by understanding ourselves first, our human nature, we can better understand other issues we pursue.