The problem of cultural unity of man is not a problem of knowledge, but a problem in the use of knowledge, therefore it is an ethical problem.
The problem of cultural unity of man is not a problem of knowledge, but a problem in the use of knowledge, therefore an ethical problem. Objective knowledge does not exist, consequently there is no basis for human cultural unity other than our desire to have such reasons for having to do with us as men. The reasons are clear. In our subject dependent cognitive domain there are grounds for viewing all men as equivalent: we recognize each other experientially (sexual recognition) as members of the same species. This is unavoidably knowledge because it is bound to our definition as men. As a result there are some of us who want this biological unity to be cultural as well as in reference to the conditions of existence. There are others whose wants are otherwise, and want the cultural diversity to represent a biological discontinuity. In either case we make an ethical choice; which way we choose, however, depends on opur personal history of experiences, and, therefore, on our individual cognitive domain. (CS 465)
This page was last updated on July 11, 1996, by Rob Sable.