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This study investigates the thinking of European authors from
Vitoria to Kant about political justice, the global community, and
the rights of strangers as one special form of interaction among
individuals of divergent societies, political communities, and
cultures. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, it covers
historical material from a predominantly philosophical perspective,
interpreting authors who have tackled problems related to the
rights of strangers under the heading of international hospitality.
Their analyses of the civitas maxima or the societas humani generis
covered the nature of the global commonwealth. Their doctrines of
natural law (ius naturae) were supposed to provide what we nowadays
call theories of political justice. The focus of the work is on
international hospitality as part of the law of nations, on its
scope and justification. It follows the political ideas of
Francisco de Vitoria and the Second Scholastic in the 16th century,
of Alberico Gentili, Hugo Grotius, Samuel Pufendorf, Christian
Wolff, Emer de Vattel, Johann Jacob Moser, and Immanuel Kant. It
draws attention to the international dimension of political thought
in Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, David Hume,
Adam Smith, and others. This is predominantly a study in
intellectual history which contextualizes ideas, but also
emphasizes their systematic relevance.
Kant's omnipresence in contemporary cosmopolitan discourses
contrasts with the fact that little is known about the historical
origins and the systematic status of his cosmopolitan theory. This
study argues that Kant's cosmopolitanism should be understood as
embedded and dynamic. Inspired by Rousseau, Kant developed a form
of cosmopolitanism rooted in a modified form of republican
patriotism. In contrast to static forms of cosmopolitanism, Kant
conceived the tensions between embedded, local attachments and
cosmopolitan obligations in dynamic terms. He posited duties to
develop a cosmopolitan disposition (Gesinnung), to establish common
laws or cosmopolitan institutions, and to found and promote legal,
moral, and religious communities which reform themselves in a way
that they can pass the test of cosmopolitan universality. This is
the cornerstone of Kant's cosmopolitanism, and the key concept is
the vocation (Bestimmung) of the individual as well as of the human
species. Since realizing or at least approaching this vocation is a
long-term, arduous, and slow process, Kant turns to the pedagogical
implications of this cosmopolitan project and spells them out in
his later writings. This book uncovers Kant's hidden theory of
cosmopolitan education within the framework of his overall
practical philosophy.
Kant's omnipresence in contemporary cosmopolitan discourses
contrasts with the fact that little is known about the historical
origins and the systematic status of his cosmopolitan theory. This
study argues that Kant's cosmopolitanism should be understood as
embedded and dynamic. Inspired by Rousseau, Kant developed a form
of cosmopolitanism rooted in a modified form of republican
patriotism. In contrast to static forms of cosmopolitanism, Kant
conceived the tensions between embedded, local attachments and
cosmopolitan obligations in dynamic terms. He posited duties to
develop a cosmopolitan disposition (Gesinnung), to establish common
laws or cosmopolitan institutions, and to found and promote legal,
moral, and religious communities which reform themselves in a way
that they can pass the test of cosmopolitan universality. This is
the cornerstone of Kant's cosmopolitanism, and the key concept is
the vocation (Bestimmung) of the individual as well as of the human
species. Since realizing or at least approaching this vocation is a
long-term, arduous, and slow process, Kant turns to the pedagogical
implications of this cosmopolitan project and spells them out in
his later writings. This book uncovers Kant's hidden theory of
cosmopolitan education within the framework of his overall
practical philosophy.
In current political debates, the term "cosmopolitanism" is
often used in quite vague ways, as part of sweeping generalizations
that might not hold up to closer scrutiny. "Imperfect
Cosmopolis"aims to clarify the meaning of the term by approaching
it from a decidedly historical perspective--distinguishing, for
example, between types of cosmopolitanism and the development of
the concept through the centuries.
This book argues that Kant's theory of international relations
should be interpreted as an attempt to apply the principles of
reason to history in general, and in particular to political
conditions of the late eighteenth century. It demonstrates how Kant
attempts to mediate between a priori theory and practice, and how
this works in the field of international law and international
relations. Kant appreciates how the precepts of theory have to be
tested against the facts, before the theory is enriched to deal
with the complexities of their application. In the central chapters
of this book, the starting points are apparent contradictions in
Kant's writings; assuming that Kant is a systematic and profound
thinker, Cavallar seeks to use these contradictions to discover
Kant's 'deep structure', a dynamic and evolutionary theory that
tries to anticipate a world where the idea of international justice
might be more fully realized.
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