ABSTRACT
Why do or should we study cultures and nations other than our own? I shall not focus on the very personal reasons that sometimes motivate us. Examples of such reasons would be a healthy curiosity about a close friend from another country or the desire to travel to another part of the world in the future. Instead, I shall mention Donald Johnson’s seven ‘levels of consciousness’ in the study of Asia listed in Fersh (1978). These levels apply to other regions of the world as well. We study other cultures and nations
as a setting for Western history;
as a problem for the foreign policy of one’s country;
as part of the campaign against stereotyping in one’s country;
as part of the attempt to learn about the uniqueness of each culture as it has developed over time;
as part of the effort to create empathy for all human beings;
as a case which exemplifies comparative social science research and application; and
as an attempt to understand a unique culture’s particular answers to humankind’s universal questions.
