Arts & International Affairs: Volume 2, Number 2 | Page 174

rife for violence that “[turns] multidimensional human beings into onedimensional
creatures.” The way to move forward is with an alternative
ethos that accords human beings a status beyond being miniature identities.
An ethic that is based on performative sentiment—tying human beings with
emotional connections—is important but insufficient to ensure impartiality
and justice. Sharon Krause (����) brings in reason to arbitrate our sentiment
toward each other as human beings. To move forward with a sentimentality
informed with reason, debate and deliberation are the necessary next steps.
Kathak dancer Gauri Diwakar performing at the ���� Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Deliberation in a democratic sense involves the giving of public reasons
for one’s actions that does not preclude an emotional performance. The
provocations of modern art to foster debate may be in the right direction, but
often remain limited to the cosmopolitan elite, although both Tate Modern
and UNESCO World Heritage Sites, symbolic of our universal values, boast
that they attract millions of visitors every year. As do the Edinburgh festivals,
often touted as the largest annual secular cultural festival in the world.
Clearly, the current universalist aspiration is in search of a participatory and
dialogic ethic.
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