Abstract: Kwame Anthony Appiah advocates that rooted cosmopolitanism, multicultural cosmopolitanism and ethical cosmopolitanism should be unified into the concern about specific identities, namely, “racial identity,” “cultural identity” and “ethical identity,” whereas the restoration of humanity is premised on the concern about individuals under specific identity. In addressing the relationship between the self and the world, ethnic writers, as represented by Saul Bellow, urge individuals to pursue the multiplicity of their cultural identity based on the restoration of their racial identity and select their ethical identity in a world of diversity. In Ravelstein, Ravelstein, the protagonist, not only restores his Jewish identity, but also inherits the traditions of the Jewish people. In the meantime, Ravelstein respects the differences in culture and reconstructs his cultural identity in the multicultural society of America. While confronting the crisis of consumption alienation, Ravelstein maintains the cosmopolitan ethics as the guidelines in interpersonal relationships, explores ways to resist spiritual alienation by fulfilling his ethical responsibilities to others, and eventually accomplishes his transition from “animal factor” to “human factor.” Through the major characters' restoration of ethnic identity, their reconstruction of cultural identity and their development of ethical identity in Ravelstein, Bellow reexamines the issue of human nature and explores the significance of individual existence with the sense of responsibility and mission as a cosmopolitan writer, thus offering a useful reference for the development of a harmonious human world.

Key words: Bellow, Ravelstein, racial identity, cultural identity, ethical identity