Cosmopolitanism as Social Theory

"I sketch three positions each of which formulates a cosmopolitical perspective through a concern with cultural difference and the reflective encounter with the Other. With regard to Immanuel Kant’s cosmopolitanism, I emphasize the centrality of his idea of a ‘disposition to reciprocity’ and of the distinction between ‘local’ and ‘global’ cosmopolitanism. Accordingly, less attention is paid to his arguments concerning the (eventual) formation of a ‘world republic’. I suggest that Kant and Hannah Arendt share a concern with plurality and that her notion of ‘limitless communication’, which she borrows from Karl Jaspers, express her concern with intercultural dialogue. While Ulrich Beck shares with Kant and, in particular, Arendt the importance of cultural pluralization in any conceptualization of cosmopolitanism, he focuses on cosmopolitanism, not as a political philosophy, but a ‘social reality’. I query, however, the analytical potential of cosmopolitanism understood as social theory."

More information about Professor Axtmann: http://www.swansea.ac.uk/staff/academic/ArtsHumanities/axtmannr/