Description
Book SynopsisCosmopolitanism is one of the most venerable intellectual traditions in the history of political philosophy. From the ancient Greek Diogenes’ claim to be “a citizen of the world” through to Kant’s Enlightenment vision of a world government and even into our own time, the idea of cosmopolitanism has stirred the moral imagination of many throughout history. Arguably the Brexit referendum result and the election of Donald Trump in 2016 marked the first major public repudiation of the transnational, globalizing cosmopolitan ideals that have arguably dominated politics in the liberal democratic West since the end of the Cold War. This volume reconsiders cosmopolitanism and its discontents in the age of Brexit and Trump by bringing together the great thinkers in the history of political philosophy and contemporary reflections on the problems and possibilities of international relations, human rights, multiculturalism, and regnant theories of democracy and the state.
Trade ReviewEdited by Ward (Baylor Univ.), this volume provides a diverse, erudite collection of 14 essays on aspects of cosmopolitanism in Western political thought throughout history. Perspectives on the importance of this mode of thinking from the Roman Republic to the modern EU are provided. Given the increased criticism of cosmopolitanism in contemporary politics (in some cases even its rejection), as witnessed in both the UK Brexit debate and Trump’s US policy discourse, the value of a "cosmopolitan ... worldview" is shown to be deserving of reevaluation. The volume touches on global issues related to contemporary citizenship, and readers may conclude that a shared international mission can best be attained by looking to the inherited tradition. . . The chapters on Cicero (first century BCE) and Althusius (1557–1638) are exemplary. . . the book provides a useful survey and encourages deeper exploration—even "conversation"—between the advocates and the critics of cosmopolitanism. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.
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“This important and timely work provides a philosophical analysis of the causes and conditions that led to nationalist movements in an era of globalism and cosmopolitanism. The contributors are second to none, and provide a range of perspectives that makes this volume indispensable for our times.” -- Khalil M. Habib, Hillsdale College
“Cosmopolitanism and Its Discontents is a richly diverse collection of meditations on and analyses of traditional and contemporary conceptions of cosmopolitanism in its virtues and its vices. This volume is very much the kind of deepening that is needed for today’s ongoing, fraught dialectic between globalism and particularism.” -- Thomas L. Pangle, University of Texas at Austin
“Cosmopolitanism and Its Discontents is a lively and intelligent array of essays on both the fact and the philosophy of cosmopolitanism. Readers will enjoy the view from a surprising number of aspects and will be impressed with the arguments and unsuspected depths they encounter.” -- Harvey C. Mansfield, Harvard University
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Contextualizing the Age of Brexit and Trump
Lee Ward
Chapter One: The Myth of Cicero’s Cosmopolitanism
Cary J. Nederman
Chapter Two: Johannes Althusius’s Cosmopolitan Defense of Local Politics
Nicholas Aroney and Simon P. Kennedy
Chapter Three: Cosmopolitanism in Early Modern Jewish Political Thought
Vasileios Syros
Chapter Four: Rousseau and the Problem of Cosmopolitanism
John T. Scott
Chapter Five: A Cosmopolitanism that Populists Could Love: Kant on Refugees, Elites, and National Honor
Jeffrey Church
Chapter Six: Citizen Marx: On His Distinction between Cosmopolitanism and Internationalism Paul Christopher Gray
Chapter Seven: Nietzsche’s Good Europeans: Beyond Nationalism and Cosmopolitanism
Paul Kirkland
Chapter Eight: From ‘Global Culture’ to ‘Authentic History’: Notes on the Preview of Heidegger’s Contributions to Philosophy
José Daniel Parra
Chapter Nine: John Rawls against the Clash of Civilizations
Michel Seymour
Chapter Ten: Glocalism and Democracy in James Tully’s Critique of Cosmopolitanism and Imperialism
Lee Ward
Chapter Eleven: Rethinking the Boundary Problem
Zoltan Miklosi and Szolt Kapelner
Chapter Twelve: “Forced to be free”: Nationalism and the Hijab Controversy in France
Ann Ward
Chapter Thirteen: Demos or no demos? Citizenship and Democracy in the EU
Claudia Wiesner
Chapter Fourteen: A Decline in Democratic Say? The Accounts of James Allan and Pierre Manent
Carl Eric Scott
