Arrows Not Yet Fired: Cultivating Cosmopolitanism Through Education

In this article I discuss Martha Nussbaum’s cosmopolitan educational ideal and its theoretical underpinnings. I argue that, in spite of its merits, it overlooks the historical‐relational dimension of cross‐cultural encounters and the impediments posed by unresolved historical conflicts to the goal of cultural reconciliation. I suggest a rehabilitation of the historical‐relational dimension by applying the insights of Paul Ricoeur to this context. My steps comprise a description of Nussbaum’s position, an exploration of its shortcomings, an interpolation of Ricoeur’s ideas and some concomitant suggestions.