Cosmopolitanism vs. Cosmopolitics
Cosmopolitanism vs. Cosmopolitics
Framing
This debate concerns how to think the global. Kant's cosmopolitanism emphasizes universal human reason and moral agency. Latour's cosmopolitics emphasizes the composition of a common world among heterogeneous entities (humans and nonhumans).
Positions
Position A: Cosmopolitanism (Kant)
Kant's cosmopolitics thinks politics from global perspective, considering Earth as sphere with limited resources. Humans should act as mutually dependent, responsible moral agents. Key texts: source-notes/morgan-kant-for-architects
Hadjiyanni's chapter supplies the position's contemporary, designer-relevant form through Kwame Anthony Appiah's cosmopolitanism: "two specific characteristics that are crucial in the formation of a 'citizen of the world' and for anyone studying the soul: first, feeling an obligation to others, and second, taking interest in the lives of others and what gives those lives significance." Where Kant grounds the position in universal reason, Appiah grounds it in fostered dispositions — and Hadjiyanni converts it into a design-educational programme: "who is the 'other'? What kind of skills and educational preparation would designers need…? How does one demonstrate 'interest' and what are the ways by which this demonstrated interest can be supported and sustained?" The position's interior stake: "globalism implies responsibility for all – including those once invisible" (cosmopolitanism, global-soul).
Position B: Cosmopolitics (Latour)
Latour's cosmopolitics emphasizes diplomatic composition of common world among heterogeneous actors. Climate change (Gaia) demands architectural response that includes nonhumans. Key texts: source-notes/yaneva-latour-for-architects
Key Texts
- source-notes/morgan-kant-for-architects — Kantian cosmopolitanism
- source-notes/yaneva-latour-for-architects — Latourian cosmopolitics
- Interiors as global constructs (Hadjiyanni 2018) — Appiah's cosmopolitanism as Position A's contemporary form: obligation to and interest in others as the "intentionally fostered" characteristics of global-interior designers
