Exceptionalism#Separateness

{{Short description|Belief that a species, group, or era is 'extraordinary'}}

Exceptionalism is the perception or belief that a species, country, society, institution, movement, individual, or time period is "exceptional" (i.e., unusual or extraordinary). The term carries the implication, whether or not specified, that the referent is superior in some way.

Although the idea appears to have developed with respect to an era, today it is particularly applied with respect to particular nations or regions.

Other uses of the term include medical and genetic exceptionalism.

History

The German romantic philosopher-historians, especially Johann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803) and Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814), dwelt on the theme of uniqueness in the late 18th century. They de-emphasized the political state and instead emphasized the uniqueness of the Volk, comprising the whole people, their languages and traditions. Each nation, considered as a cultural entity with its own distinctive history, possessed a "national spirit", or "soul of the people" (in German: Volksgeist). This idea had a strong influence in the growth of nationalism in 19th-century European lands—especially in ones ruled by élites from somewhere else.Royal J. Schmidt, "Cultural Nationalism in Herder", Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 17, No. 3 (June 1956), pp. 407–17 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2707552 in JSTOR]Hans Kohn, "The Paradox of Fichte's Nationalism", Journal of the History of Ideas, Vol. 10, No. 3 (June 1949), pp. 319–43 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2707040 in JSTOR]

Claims of exceptionality have been made for many countries, including the United States, Australia (especially in South AustraliaC. J. Coventry, "A New Birth of Freedom: South Australia, slavery and exceptionalism," Speech to History Council of South Australia (HCSA) (2020), https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:33351/),{{cite web|url=https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/international-human-rights-australian-exceptionalism|title=Speeches|website=www.humanrights.gov.au|access-date=1 September 2018|archive-date=18 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118100705/https://www.humanrights.gov.au/news/speeches/international-human-rights-australian-exceptionalism|url-status=dead}} China, France, Germany, Greece,{{cite web|url=http://www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk/files/exceptionalism/article2.html|title=Questioning Greek Exceptionalism|first=wehnerj|last=(jwehner@wehnerweb.com)|website=www.mod-langs.ox.ac.uk|access-date=1 September 2018}} Pakistan, Imperial Japan, Iran, Serbia, Israel, North Korea, South Africa,{{cite web|url=https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/opinionista/2013-10-24-south-africa-is-in-africa/#.WMCbezuGPIU|title=South Africa IS in 'Africa' - Daily Maverick|first=Simamkele|last=Dlakavu|date=24 October 2013|access-date=1 September 2018}}{{cite web | url=http://journalismiziko.dut.ac.za/feature-review/south-africas-worrying-exceptionalism/ | title=South Africa's Worrying Exceptionalism | publisher=Durban University of Technology | work=Iziko Live | date=October 29, 2013 | access-date=September 2, 2018 | author=Raymond Padya, Journalism Editor | archive-date=May 16, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516142941/http://journalismiziko.dut.ac.za/feature-review/south-africas-worrying-exceptionalism/ | url-status=dead }} Spain, the UK, the USSR, Thailand{{cite journal | url=http://nolte.rewi.hu-berlin.de/doc/pub/European_Exceptionalism.pdf | title=European exceptionalism? | author=Georg Nolte and Helmut Philipp Aust | journal=Global Constitutionalism | year=2013 | volume=2 | issue=3 | pages=407–436 | doi=10.1017/S2045381713000038| hdl=10419/66220 | s2cid=232178437 | hdl-access=free }}{{cite web|author=du même auteur |url=http://www.cairn.info/resume.php?ID_ARTICLE=EUFOR_359_0083 |title=Becoming Exceptional? American and European Exceptionalism and their Critics: A Review |publisher=Cairn.info |date=2011-01-01 |access-date=2015-11-14}} and Lebanon.{{cite book |last1=Mikdashi |first1=Maya |title=Sextarianism. Sovereignty, Secularism, and the State in Lebanon |date=2022 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9781503631564 |page=117-152}} Historians have added many other cases, including historic empires such as China, the Ottoman Empire, ancient Rome, and ancient India, along with a wide range of minor kingdoms in history.See Christopher K. Chase-Dunn, Thomas D. Hall, and E. Susan Manning, "Rise and Fall: East-West Synchronicity and Indic Exceptionalism Reexamined", Social Science History, Volume 24, Number 4, Winter 2000, pp. 727–54 [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/social_science_history/v024/24.4chase-dunn.html in Project Muse]{{Cite journal |last=Nymalm |first=Nicola |last2=Plagemann |first2=Johannes |date=2019-03-01 |title=Comparative Exceptionalism: Universality and Particularity in Foreign Policy Discourses |url=https://academic.oup.com/isr/article/21/1/12/4951785 |journal=International Studies Review |language=en |volume=21 |issue=1 |pages=12–37 |doi=10.1093/isr/viy008 |issn=1521-9488 |doi-access=free}}

Criticism

Belief in exceptionalism can represent erroneous thought analogous to historicism in that it overemphasizes peculiarities in an analysis and ignores or downplays meaningful comparisons.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}} A group may assert exceptionalism in order to exaggerate the appearance of difference, to invoke a wider latitude of action, and to avoid recognition of similarities that would reduce perceived justifications.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}} This can be an example of special pleading, a form of spurious argumentation that ignores relevant bases for meaningful comparisons.{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}} Exceptionalism is often based on poor historical knowledge.C. J. Coventry, "A New Birth of Freedom: South Australia, slavery and exceptionalism," Speech to History Council of South Australia (HCSA) (2020), https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:33351/

Separateness

J. Bradford DeLong has used the term "exceptionalism" to describe the economic growth of post-World War II Western Europe.{{cite web|last1=DeLong|first1=J. Bradford|author-link1=J. Bradford DeLong|title=Post-WWII Western European Exceptionalism: The Economic Dimension|url=http://econ161.berkeley.edu/Econ_Articles/ucla/ucla_marshall2.html|publisher=University of California|access-date=14 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728125244/http://econ161.berkeley.edu/Econ_Articles/ucla/ucla_marshall2.html|archive-date=28 July 2012|location=Berkeley|date=September 1997}}

Exceptionalism can represent an error analogous to historicism in assuming that only peculiarities are relevant to analysis, while overlooking meaningful comparisons. Political scientist Noritada Matsuda writes, "[W]hat is seemingly exceptional in one country may be found in other countries."{{cite web |url=http://www.japanesestudies.org.uk/discussionpapers/Matsuda.html |title=Exceptionalism in Political Science: Japanese Politics, US Politics, and Supposed International Norms |publisher=Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies |first=Noritada |last=Matsuda |date=13 August 2003 |access-date=26 November 2020}}

In ideologically-driven debates, a group may assert exceptionalism, with or without the term, in order to exaggerate the appearance of difference, perhaps to create an atmosphere permissive of a wider latitude of action, and to avoid recognition of similarities that would reduce perceived justifications. If unwarranted, this represents an example of special pleading, a form of spurious argumentation that ignores relevant bases for meaningful comparison.{{Citation needed|date=November 2015}}

The term "exceptionalism" can imply criticism of a tendency to remain separate from others. For example, the reluctance of the United States government to join various international treaties is sometimes called "exceptionalist".{{Cite journal|last=Park |first=Jeanne |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2000-11-01/new-sovereigntists-american-exceptionalism-and-its-false-prophets |title=The New Sovereigntists: American Exceptionalism and Its False Prophets |journal=Foreign Affairs |issue=November/December 2000 |date= November 2000|access-date=2015-11-14}}

Medical exceptionalism

Use of the term "HIV exceptionalism" implies that AIDS is a contagious disease that is or should be treated differently from other contagions{{cite web|last=Hanssens |first=Catherine (Lambda Legal) |url=http://www.thebody.com/hanssens/exceptionalism.html |title=Inventing "AIDS Exceptionalism" |publisher=TheBody.com|date=Winter 1997–1998 |access-date=2015-11-14}} or entails benefits not available to those suffering from other diseases.{{cite news|author1=Sheryl Gay Stolberg|title=New Challenge to Idea That 'AIDS Is Special'|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/12/us/new-challenge-to-idea-that-aids-is-special.html?pagewanted=all|work=The New York Times|access-date=14 November 2015|location=New York City|date=12 November 1997}}{{cite book|author=United States Congress|title=Congressional Record, V. 152, Pt. 16, September 29 2006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iwW_dE91hF4C&pg=PA539-IA69|date=25 October 2010|publisher=United States Government Publishing Office|isbn=978-0-16-086781-1|page=539}}

Notes

References

George M. Fredrickson. "From Exceptionalism to Variability: Recent Developments in Cross-National Comparative History," Journal of American History, Vol. 82, No. 2 (Sep., 1995), pp. 587–604 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2082188 in JSTOR]
Gallant, Thomas W. "Greek Exceptionalism and Contemporary Historiography: New Pitfalls and Old Debates," Journal of Modern Greek Studies, Volume 15, Number 2, October 1997, pp. 209–16
Michael Kammen, "The Problem of American Exceptionalism: A Reconsideration," American Quarterly, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Mar., 1993), pp. 1–43 [https://www.jstor.org/stable/2713051 in JSTOR]
Seymour Martin Lipset, American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword (1996)
Lund, Joshua. "Barbarian Theorizing and the Limits of Latin American Exceptionalism," Cultural Critique, 47, Winter 2001, pp. 54–90 [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cultural_critique/v047/47.1lund.html in Project Muse]
Pei, Minxin. "The Puzzle of East Asian Exceptionalism," Journal of Democracy, Volume 5, Number 4, October 1994, pp. 90–103
Thompson, Eric C. "Singaporean Exceptionalism and Its Implications for ASEAN Regionalism," Contemporary Southeast Asia, Volume 28, Number 2, August 2006, pp. 183–206.