Homo communitas
How much of knowledge acquisition depends on interaction with others?
What meaningful distinctions can be made between knowing as an individual and knowing as a group?
To what extent can we view the various academic disciplines as distinct communities having their own language and culture?
What are the pitfalls of cultural relativism? What is the difference between relativism and pluralism?
THE PRIMACY OF COMMUNITY…
Our predisposition for learning, in common with a swath of other essential human capacities, will only manifest itself fully under certain social conditions. Only during our encounter with others in community do we become and remain fully human. Without the background of community, we may find ourselves drifting into a state of meaninglessness. Paradoxically, can we say that to assert autonomy is to embrace community?
What is the difference between a true community and an enclave of shared interest? How important is the scale of a community. How important is it to know most members of one’s community personally? What is the role of interdependence in community?
Can we engineer community?
What are the positive and negative aspects of diversity within a community? Is conflict always destructive? Does homogeneity necessarily impede progress and flexibility? Indeed, can we point to a general theory of diversity—rooted in biological notions of variation and hybrid vigor—that remains pertinent to the human social arena?
What are the losses and gains associated with small, tightly knit communities? How necessary are our solitary moments away from the madding crowd?
