NLA REVIEW	Who Are You? by Dean Robert J. D'Agostino	Spring 1997

A recent incident at John Marshall Law School pitting the politically correct against we dinosaurs brought to mind the vastly under-appreciated American philosopher Charles Peirce. He observed that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he defines himself. If you define yourself as "one with the universe" your view of the world and people around you is quite different than if you define yourself as "a member of the Delancy Street gang". This is not to suggest that individuals are consistent about much of anything, but if you think of yourself as a human being an American, a Christian, a Jew, a Moslem, your consideration of people and issues will be quite different than if you identify yourself first and foremost by your race, your ethnic group, your gender or your sexual preference.

Daniel Moi, President of Kenya, in answering a question about the lack of democracy in Kenya responded (and I am paraphrasing) that a workable democracy presupposed a discussion of issues and a system of justice. If, continued President Moi, group loyalties determined positions, then the civil discourse and objective application of justice necessary for democracy are impossible. If being an Italian-American is more important than being an American, then we as a country are in trouble.

I suggest that the same applies to any institution whether a government agency or a law school. It was once commonly thought that children could function only in an authoritarian atmosphere until such time as a liberal education honed their judgment and broadened their perspectives beyond the self or the narrow group from which they came. Based on the last 30 years, that view may well be correct.

The goal of education, indeed of civilization itself, is to enable each of us to become fully human. If race, gender, ethnicity or sexual preference is all, where then is the human being? How then are we to govern ourselves? How then are we to trust each other's judgment? As Mark Twain put it, being a human being is bad enough; controlling adjectives are not needed.