Education For Citizenship In An Era Of Global Connection By Martha Nussbaum

The Importance in Humanities and how to live an examined life Why should we study the humanities? Before we begin to consider formulating a coherent answer to this question, I feel it is important to first understand what the humanities are and what they encompass. First introduced in the 18th century, the humanities played a crucial role in establishing and enforcing the social order of society (Eagleton 2010). But how does a discipline that was once so important and affluential slowly become obsolete and steamrolled by the technical disciplines of math, science and business? Why are these course still mandatory courses in most universities and what do we gain from taking them? In my opinion the humanities are still an important discipline

The first was ancient Greek philosopher Socrates who encouraged the youth to live what he called the examined life (Nussbaum pg. 290). This notion of moving away from traditional, technical education into an era of discussing and understanding the ‘why’ alongside the ‘how’ was later discussed by Roman philosopher Seneca (Nussbaum pg. 290). Seneca argued that it was only through living this examined life, through liberal education, that we would be able to become fully human and become capable of recognizing and respecting the humanity of fellow human beings (Nussbaum pg. 290). Seneca’s understanding is still largely supported today in modern humanities teachings (Nussbaum pg. 290). Courses such as philosophy, history and anthropology work to dissect and understand the importance of culture, tradition and the past as a way of learning how to move forward while still respecting what we’ve come from. Nussbaum focuses on three specific abilities in her essay; the Socratic ability to criticize one’s own traditions, the ability to think as a global citizen of the world and, the use of “narrative imagination” (Nussbaum pg. 289) to imagine what it would be like in the position of someone

Eagleton chose to highlight the recent attack on the humanities division, budget cuts and lack of economical importance in the eyes of some, whereas Nussbaum chose to discuss both the deep rooted history while also highlighting the benefits that the humanities provide for all subjects and aspects of life. In an era so stressed in the technological aspects of life, the humanities offers its students a welcome break from these pressed ideologies by showcasing the importance in creativity and imagination (Nussbaum pg. 295). While dissecting A Christmas Carol, Nussbaum says; “We need to produce citizens who have this education while they are still young, before their imaginations are shackled by the weight of daily duties and self-interested plans. We produce all too many citizens who do drag cash boxes around with them, whose imaginations never step out of the counting house” (pg.302). I feel this statement not only perfectly encompasses what both Socrates and Seneca both hoped to achieve through the examined life and liberal education (Nussbaum pg. 290), but I also feel it address the question of why we need the humanities. Without these teachings of questioning and learning about each other and ourselves, we are ultimately faced with shackled imaginations (Nussbaum pg. 302). The importance in the humanities is to remind us that there is more to life then