Cosmos and nomos: cosmopolitanism in art and political philosophy
In this article I address the tensions between normative political philosophy and aesthetic cosmopolitanism. Jurgen Habermas and Jacques Derrida have been two of the most influential philosophers to engage with the political and ethical questions of cosmopolitanism. Habermas has drawn on the foundat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Aesthetics & Culture |
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| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20004214.2021.1980991 |
| _version_ | 1819290628370989056 |
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| author | Nikos Papastergiadis |
| author_facet | Nikos Papastergiadis |
| author_sort | Nikos Papastergiadis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this article I address the tensions between normative political philosophy and aesthetic cosmopolitanism. Jurgen Habermas and Jacques Derrida have been two of the most influential philosophers to engage with the political and ethical questions of cosmopolitanism. Habermas has drawn on the foundations established by Immanuel Kant and set out to define an institutional framework that could secure the rights of people in an age of mobility. Derrida’s emphasis is more heavily slanted to ethical relations rather than geo-political structures. He reversed Kant’s starting point, by placing the exposure to the other and the necessity of hospitality as the basis of freedom and truth. While both Habermas and Derrida have developed their political philosophy by working in close touch with Kant, the transcendental aspects of his thinking is now totally absent in the contemporary debates. As a general rule political philosophy has averted its gaze from the cosmos, and more generally it has to be noted that it has bracketed the founding philosophical concepts of aesthetics and physis. The focus is mostly on the terrain of anthropos, polis and the nomos. In short, the discussion begins and ends within the normative parameters of cosmopolitanism. By contrast, artists from the pioneering modernists like Malevich to contemporary figures such as Saraceno have never abandoned the quest for cosmogony. The ethical orientation of aesthetic cosmopolitanism appears to co-exist with a wider claim of belonging to the cosmos. In this article I contrast the orientation and scope of thinking between normative and aesthetic cosmopolitanism in order to reframe the spheres of connections in contemporary thought. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-24T03:25:46Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dc067c9fae814359a242bba9f68e76e5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2000-4214 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-24T03:25:46Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Aesthetics & Culture |
| spelling | doaj.art-dc067c9fae814359a242bba9f68e76e52022-12-21T17:17:21ZengTaylor & Francis GroupJournal of Aesthetics & Culture2000-42142021-01-0113110.1080/20004214.2021.19809911980991Cosmos and nomos: cosmopolitanism in art and political philosophyNikos Papastergiadis0University of MelbourneIn this article I address the tensions between normative political philosophy and aesthetic cosmopolitanism. Jurgen Habermas and Jacques Derrida have been two of the most influential philosophers to engage with the political and ethical questions of cosmopolitanism. Habermas has drawn on the foundations established by Immanuel Kant and set out to define an institutional framework that could secure the rights of people in an age of mobility. Derrida’s emphasis is more heavily slanted to ethical relations rather than geo-political structures. He reversed Kant’s starting point, by placing the exposure to the other and the necessity of hospitality as the basis of freedom and truth. While both Habermas and Derrida have developed their political philosophy by working in close touch with Kant, the transcendental aspects of his thinking is now totally absent in the contemporary debates. As a general rule political philosophy has averted its gaze from the cosmos, and more generally it has to be noted that it has bracketed the founding philosophical concepts of aesthetics and physis. The focus is mostly on the terrain of anthropos, polis and the nomos. In short, the discussion begins and ends within the normative parameters of cosmopolitanism. By contrast, artists from the pioneering modernists like Malevich to contemporary figures such as Saraceno have never abandoned the quest for cosmogony. The ethical orientation of aesthetic cosmopolitanism appears to co-exist with a wider claim of belonging to the cosmos. In this article I contrast the orientation and scope of thinking between normative and aesthetic cosmopolitanism in order to reframe the spheres of connections in contemporary thought.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20004214.2021.1980991cosmopolitanismnomoscosmosart and philosophy |
| spellingShingle | Nikos Papastergiadis Cosmos and nomos: cosmopolitanism in art and political philosophy Journal of Aesthetics & Culture cosmopolitanism nomos cosmos art and philosophy |
| title | Cosmos and nomos: cosmopolitanism in art and political philosophy |
| title_full | Cosmos and nomos: cosmopolitanism in art and political philosophy |
| title_fullStr | Cosmos and nomos: cosmopolitanism in art and political philosophy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Cosmos and nomos: cosmopolitanism in art and political philosophy |
| title_short | Cosmos and nomos: cosmopolitanism in art and political philosophy |
| title_sort | cosmos and nomos cosmopolitanism in art and political philosophy |
| topic | cosmopolitanism nomos cosmos art and philosophy |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20004214.2021.1980991 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nikospapastergiadis cosmosandnomoscosmopolitanisminartandpoliticalphilosophy |