The Case for Humanity (Part IV)

“A technologically-advanced species with the capacity to destroy itself had better learn how to work together.”

Introduction

This piece, which marks the conclusion to my four part series making the case for universalistic internationalism, addresses the more concrete details of my proposal. The earlier articles in this series formed a sequence. The first discussed the arguments for a nationalist approach to international politics, conceding that arguments about universalistic internationalism often failed to present compelling accounts of the sources of meaning people need in their lives. The second article developed a broadly Kantian critique of these nationalist arguments, maintaining that the enforcement of homogeneity by state institutions would constitute a very great wrong, which cannot be justified simply by pointing out that it is necessary to engender a sense of meaning and belonging in the population. The third article deepened this position by drawing upon the writings of Søren Kierkegaard and Martha Nussbaum to demonstrate that nationalism provides a deficient sense of meaning and belonging, while presenting an alternative centered on the idea of making individuals more capable of “becoming what they are” in a social context.

This last article presents why I think we needn’t see the individualism associated with universalistic internationalism as devoid of existential significance relative to nationalist alternatives. If anything, I follow Kierkegaard in believing that such an individualism offers deeper possibilities for all people to find meaning in their lives. But this remains only an impossibility so long as political institutions prohibit or fail to do all they can to make individuals more capable of “becoming what they are.”

This is where I believe international institutions can play a key role. As the world celebrated the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this past December, we would be wise to remember the solidarity and moral courage the principles enshrined therein represented. This is especially true as memories of the Second World War fade, and populations seem more and more willing to once again flirt with far-right ethnocentrism and post-modern conservatism’s false promises of stability and belonging. The promise of the Universal Declaration persists, though we have faltered in upholding its most generous principles. Considering how to renew support for the internationalist project will mean looking at this failure and considering how to do better.