Full citizenship definition
Full citizenship according to Cavell means, that one can speak for others as well as for oneself without subordinating oneself to conventionality at the expense of individual meaning. This implies the possibility of finding one’s own voice in the world and not – as the sceptical framework would demand – speaking only according to defined patterns, unconnected to our situation, as our situation seems unconnected to the “world object”. An analogous competence belongs to that kind of person Gendlin calls a “focuser”14. He too takes on the challenge of conveying the intricacy of his personal point of view,
Full citizenship for an American means much more than voting and obeying the law. If we are truly a country “by the people,” then we have an ongoing responsibility to continue to build our society. The picture of America is not a grainy black and white still print from years ago, but a vibrant, streaming color image from the present that will stretch into the future.