「公民」有兩個截然不同的理解方向。第一種方向視公民為特定政治共同體的成員,並強調此一成員在共同體中所享有的權利與義務關係。另外一種方向採取世界主義的觀點,視公民為從屬於全人類之男男女女,不為任何特定政治共同體所壟斷。這兩種公民概念都是人類珍貴的思想遺產,雖然其發展方向看似相反,但其實並不必然互斥。本文的目的就是要闡發「世界公民」這個較少受到注意的理想,以之彌補現行公民教育過度強調「一國公民」的偏差。筆者認為:唯有基於「世界公民」的精神,重新設計大學公民教育的課程,使學生有機會認識自己國家之外的文化與社會,我們才能培養真正具備博雅胸襟的公民,既能欣賞人類各種偉大的文明,又能藉此反省本身政治與文化認同的特殊性與侷限性。
The concept of ”citizen” has two different connotations. First, it means the member of a specific political community, with accompanying right and duty. Second, it designates the membership of the human world, breaking through the boundary of nations. Although the two connotations seem contradictory, they are not necessarily incompatible. The article will explore the ”metropolitan” (or world-citizen) side of citizenship, arguing that it is an important compensation to the bias of ”citizenship within one nation.” I believe that it is only through a civic education based on the spirit of world citizenship that we can cultivate citizens with liberal mind, capable of appreciating the greatness of various civilizations and reflecting on the particularity and limitation of their own (political and cultural) identity.