Reason as Human Dignity:Education in the Kantian Sense is Necessarily Education for World Citizenship
In Kant's essay"Idea for a Universal History in the Perspective of the World Citizen"published in 1784,reason is re-garded as the unique endowment of human beings and the embodiment of human dignity.Reason is the thread and purpose of the univer-sal historical development of humanity.In the process of universal history,reason is the goal of personal development,and it further ex-pands continuously at the level of the state and the world,ultimately completing nature's"hidden plan"of the free use of reason by"universal world citizens".The realization of this plan relies on the public use of reason,the guarantee of an improved civil constitu-tion,and the multiple efforts of various nations to strive for perpetual peace.From the perspective of this cosmopolitan philosophy of his-tory,the educational process embedded in the expansion of reason/dignity of humanity must be cosmopolitan;the education of human beings as rational beings must be the education of world citizens.To address the increasingly confrontational,divided,and polarized world crisis today,developing reason or critical thinking as an eternal higher-order capability should become a fundamental element of civic education.This requires transforming the expectation of perpetual peace into a form of perpetual rational dialogue to examine global issues,seek global consensus,demonstrate civic courage,and rebuild and promote the continued prosperity of the human community.
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