Cosmopolitanism As a Concept for Tolerant Demarcation

Abstract

This chapter offers a line of argument which allows for an integration of the concepts of cosmopolitanism and universalism. Cosmopolitanism will be conceptualized as a political practice of conflict, in which universal values are simply discursively asserted in a reflexive way — in other words, while maintaining the option of their own failure. This is not seen in contradiction to Ulrich Beck’s concept of cosmopolitanism, but as further differentiation, by considering that normative principles always go through a recursive preliminary stage before being assigned universal validity. Cosmopolitanism, then, means the preservation of the preliminarity of mutual perceptions of difference, since universal demands are limited to the status of prospective norms and are not being currently implemented politically. If, however, cosmopolitanism — as in Ulrich Beck’s conception — elevates the recognition of otherness to a maxim, a concealed excessive increase of universalism is at work. What gets lost on the way is the recursive capacity of cosmopolitanism to recognize the justifiable difference of the Other, and to require a distinct collective identity. Only such self-restraint makes possible the recognition of difference — which cosmopolitanism demands.