Bertina wrote:
> I thought we all were essentially HUMAN! Can you dig it? Lets concentrate
> on peoples connectedness with HUMANITY and not differences!
Phil responds:
Bertina, I used to strongly agree with your position but have come to have
deep doubts, not about whether it is desirable to get together and act in
concert to improve our and the world's condition, but about whether it's
actually possible for me or anyone to have an identity simply"as human". As
a matter of fact, I'm a man and I can't ultimately change that (even a sex
change operation would leave me as a "previous" man). I've come to see the
world and been socialized into it from a man's position, albeit one who
identifies more with feminine and feminists things than is at all usual in
my culture (U.S.). The more I can fully understand this about myself, the
better I seem to be able to understand others, esp. those not of my gender.
So, while I fully support what I take to be the practical point of your
remark, I deeply doubt whether the theory of universal human nature is an
effective way to bring about the wanted practical results. I think we have a
better chance to understand our commonalities through our differences than
inspite of them, or around them, or by ignoring or denying them. And
anyhow, do we have any other good choice but to accept those differences?
Sincerely,
ps
Philip T. Shepard, Professor
Lyman Briggs School
Michigan State University
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
