We reflexively value being cosmopolitan: traveling, communicating, buying, and selling with anyone, anywhere in the world. This creates greater understanding, making nations and individuals more tolerant. But for G.K. Chesterton, the cosmopolitan position gets things the wrong way around. The cosmopolitan's chosen virtues—open-mindedness, tolerance, flexibility of thought—are best promoted by parochialism, by a narrowing of one's world within the confines of a smaller community, such as one's neighbors or immediate family. Paradoxically, it is in removing ourselves from the world that we become truly open-minded. Is Chesterton right? How can we become truly open to other people? We will consider these questions by reading Chesterton's essays, “On Certain Modern Writers and the Institution of the Family,” and “Reflections on a Rotten Apple.”

This seminar is the fourth meeting of our Fall 2024 series on G.K. Chesterton. This session will be led by Amogha Sahu (Columbia).

Please RSVP as lunch will be served.