ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the dual nature of blindness as part of the human condition – one that is the source of both our sufferings and our joys. It is not too much to say that in the contemporary world, especially in view of the tendency of social exclusion, of the anxiety of inclusion and of fear toward the alien, the cultivation of imagination to the life of others is an urgent task for democracy and education. Cavell is known to have kept his distance from pragmatism, especially from that of John Dewey. Beginning with the real difficulty of seeing within our fated condition of “moral solitude,” James indicates that the cultivation of such sensibilities in true seeing is a condition of building a shared community. Beginning with the real difficulty of seeing within our fated condition of “moral solitude,” James indicates that the cultivation of such sensibilities in true seeing is a condition of building a shared community.
