№ 5 - 2012
Dallmayr F.
Cosmopolitanism: In Search of Cosmos

The essay seeks to disentangle the meaning or meanings of the term "cosmopolitanism". The author distinguishеs between three main interpretations: empirical, normative, and practical or interactive. In the first reading, the term coincides with "globalization" on the economic, technical, and communicative levels. A different sense is stressed by normative thinkers like Kant, Rawls, and Habermas who concentrate on a set of moral and/or legal norms governing international politics. Noting the is/ought dilemma troubling normativism, the essay introduces the meaning of practical interaction stressing the need for intercultural and inter-societal practical engagement and education.