Overview

Since the Enlightenment, the definition of terms such as humanity, citizenship and rights has fluctuated and these ideas continue to have relevance for contemporary discussions of globalization from a «cosmopolitan» perspective. This volume goes back to the conception of cosmopolitanism in Greek antiquity in order to trace it through history, resulting in an unmasking of its many myths. The concept is reconstructed with reference not only to well-known (and some lesser known) historical thinkers of cosmopolitanism, but also to noted «anti-cosmopolitans». The first aim of the book is to display historical perspectives on a discourse which has been dominated by ahistorical presumptions. The second is to critically explore alternative paths beyond the Western imagination, redefining the Enlightenment legacy and the centre-periphery dichotomy. Most notably, Eastern Europe and the Arab world are integrated within the analysis of cosmopolitanism. Within a framework of conceptual history (Begriffsgeschichte), cosmopolitan reason is criticized from the viewpoints of comparative literature, psychoanalysis, phenomenology, postcolonialism and moral philosophy. The book’s critical approach is an attempt to come to terms with the anachronism, essentialism, ethnocentrism and anthropocentrism that sometimes underlie contemporary theoretical and methodological uses of the term «cosmopolitanism». By adding historical and contextual depth to the problem of cosmopolitanism, a reflexive corrective is presented to enhance ongoing discussions of this topic within as well as outside academia.

Full Product Details

Author:   Rebecka Lettevall ,  Kristian Petrov
Publisher:   Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Imprint:   Peter Lang AG, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften
Edition:   New edition
Volume:   2
Dimensions:   Width: 15.00cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 22.50cm
Weight:   0.600kg
ISBN:  

9783034308984

ISBN 10:   3034308981
Pages:   342
Publication Date:   18 July 2014
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Contents: Rebecka Lettevall/Kristian Petrov: Toward a Critique of Cosmopolitan Reason – Aaron C. Vlasak: Philosophic Exile: Plato’s Care for the Self as Cosmopolitanism – Tania Espinoza: Cosmopolitanism of the Not-All, from a Psychoanalytic Point of View – Frank Ejby Poulsen: Anacharsis Cloots and the Birth of Modern Cosmopolitanism – Nina Lex: Exemplary Universality: Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Global Citizenship – Georg Cavallar: Kant and the Right of World Citizens: An Historical Interpretation – Eva Piirimäe: Herder and Cosmopolitanism – Galin Tihanov: De-Romanticizing Exile – Tamara Caraus: Cosmopolitanism and the Legacy of East European Dissent – Jamil Khader: Cosmopolitanism and the Infidelity to Internationalism: Repeating Postcoloniality and the World Revolution – Andrew Vincent: Reflections of a Reluctant Cosmopolitan.

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Author Information

Rebecka Lettevall and Kristian Petrov are Associate Professors of Intellectual History in the School of Historical and Contemporary Studies at Södertörn University in Stockholm.

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