Cosmopolitanism: approaches, history, and possibilities
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Abstract
Cosmopolitanism, a philosophy and ethical system that focuses on the sameness of humanity as a characteristic of identification, could hold a wealth of answers for normative political questions. What new type of political life would be possible if the individual internalizes cosmopolitan sentiment, and could an internalization of cosmopolitanism result in positive institutional change? This work explores the history of and theoretical arguments for and against cosmopolitanism to propose a concise and useable definition. Additionally, by comparing the individual cosmopolitan sentiment within nations against those nations’ international actions, such as ratification of human rights declarations and approval of non-compulsory jurisdiction, it searches for the connection between the cosmopolitan individual and a state’s cosmopolitan vision in the political world.