"Profound, beautifully written, and inspiring. It proves that Nussbaum deserves her reputation as one of the greatest modern philosophers."
-Globe and Mail

"At a time of growing national chauvinism, Martha Nussbaum's excellent restatement of the cosmopolitan tradition is a welcome and much-needed contribution...Illuminating and thought-provoking."
-Times Higher Education

The cosmopolitan political tradition in Western thought begins with the Greek Cynic Diogenes, who, when asked where he came from, said he was a citizen of the world. Rather than declare his lineage, social class, or gender, he defined himself as a human being, implicitly asserting the equal worth of all human beings.

Martha Nussbaum pursues this "noble but flawed" vision and confronts its inherent tensions. The insight that politics ought to treat human beings both as equal and as having a worth beyond price is responsible for much that is fine in the modern Western political imagination. Yet given the global prevalence of material want, the conflicting beliefs of a pluralistic society, and the challenge of mass migration and asylum seekers, what political principles should we endorse? The Cosmopolitan Tradition urges us to focus on the humanity we share rather than on what divides us.

"Lucid and accessible...In an age of resurgent nationalism, a study of the idea and ideals of cosmopolitanism is remarkably timely."
-Ryan Patrick Hanley, Journal of the History of Philosophy

About the Author
Martha C. Nussbaum is the author of The Fragility of Goodness, The Monarchy of Fear, and Citadels of Pride, among other works. She is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, where she is in the Law School and Philosophy Department. She has received three of the world's most significant awards for humanities and social science: the Kyoto Prize, the Berggruen Prize, and the 2021 Holberg Prize.

Reviews
Profound, beautifully written, and inspiring. It proves that Nussbaum deserves her reputation as one of the greatest modern philosophers. -- Aidan Johnson * Globe and Mail *
At a time of growing national chauvinism, Martha Nussbaum's excellent restatement of the cosmopolitan tradition is a welcome and much-needed contribution. Masterfully tracing the development of the idea of universal human dignity from antiquity to the present, she highlights the major contributions of this tradition to our thinking about morality and law, while also providing a persuasive critique of its limitations. Her revision of the tradition, articulated here...is illuminating and thought-provoking. -- Lior Erez * Times Higher Education *
In a penetrating and salient collection of essays, Nussbaum...examines the cosmopolitan tradition and its relationship to the challenges of pluralism and globalism in contemporary life...A timely and insightful analysis of ethical dilemmas. * Kirkus Reviews *
A lucid and accessible study of a concept with clear contemporary relevance. In an age of resurgent nationalism, a study of the idea and ideals of cosmopolitanism is remarkably timely. -- Ryan Patrick Hanley * Journal of the History of Philosophy *



Book Information
ISBN 9780674260399
Author Martha C. Nussbaum
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Harvard University Press
Publisher Harvard University Press