by MUBARAK ALI
Herodotus (d.425 BC), the Greek historian points out in his historical narratives that nature has created rivers, mountains, and oceans to separate nations from each other so that they could live peacefully in isolation. Man violates the barriers of nature by building bridges on rivers, digging tunnels in mountains and constructing ships to cross oceans. The results of this violation are wars and clashes among nations. Powerful nations dominate over the weak ones by sometimes disturbing their peaceful and harmonious life through war and conflict.
When Herodotus wrote these lines, he perhaps had in his mind the disastrous and bloody effects of war between Persia and Greek. In the 5th century BC, the Persians invaded Greece by crossing over the bridge over the river of Hellespont built by King Xerxes (d.465 BC). The Persians also used navy to fight the Athenian naval forces. The Battle of Thermopylae battle followed where 300 Spartans were killed along with the Helots, their allies. On his return, Xerxes found that the bridge he had built on the river was broken by the strong waves of a flood. He became so angry that he ordered his men to flog the river. Here, Herodotus wants to show the despotism of a Persian king. It was probably this event which inspired him to argue that nations should live untroubled in their own specific space.
Gottfried Herder (d.1803), the German philosopher had similar views. According to him, nations live in a particular geographical space and cultivate their own culture based on their environment. Through centuries, their languages, traditions, experiences, values and norms are passed from one generation to another. A Chinese remains a Chinese wherever he goes. He retains his characteristics and hardly changes his behaviour. Therefore, Herder’s argument was that the culture of every nation should be preserved and remain unpolluted by the interruption of foreign influence. To some critics, Herder’s philosophy is not only nationalistic but also racist. His main concern was to protect the purity of the German culture. Another German philosopher Gottlieb Fichte (d.1814) was so insecure about foreign influences that he suggested a ban on German people travelling to other countries. Germany at the time was not a united country but divided into 300 small states and duchies therefore the German intellectuals’ logic behind their philosophy was based on their vulnerability and preservation of cultural unity.
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