Martha Nussbaum

In The Narrative Imagination, "Nussbaum argues that higher education should produce "citizens of the world," and that literature plays a key role in achieving that goal because of its special efficacy in helping us to understand others"(The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism). This is much like what Plato was talking about in his Republic. Nussbaum saw an education giving each person a more thorough understanding of the people that are not like themselves. This would in turn produce a better understanding of the world and make these educated people better citizens. They would not just be local or national citizens, but world citizens.

One thing essential to this citizenship is a moral imagination. This moral imagination would allow people to understand and suffer with people who have problems. This is something I've believed in(because of hearing it  from many people throughout my life) without ever giving it much thought. I took it as being a common since type of knowledge that everyone understood. Of course it is not that unfortunately. Or at least many people do not apply this to their logic or life. I personally just find it silly to think that being ignorant of situations and cultures around the world, or even around a town, can produce any understanding of them. I agree with her very much on literature being a portal to a moral imagination. It opens up worlds that some people may never have imagined. As a Bill Murray fan I immediately thought of Scrooged (not a big Dickens fan so I'm going with Bill in this example). Scrooged tells the story of an immoral (in many ways) man that, through intervention of spirits, finds his moral imagination and understands the meaning of giving and caring. I really think this idea is very much alive even in our television programs with reality type shows such as America's Most Wanted and other crime and law shows bring true stories, although sometimes exaggerated, to people that are safe in their homes.