A Broad-Minded Way of Thinking. Cosmological Perspectives in Kantian Cosmopolitanism

The article suggests reading Kant’s cosmopolitanism in a cosmological key, that is, as a derivation of critical reflection on the concept of the world. In critical perspective, the world ceases to be a physical reality (universe) and becomes a rational idea of community. Kantian Cosmopolitanism can be understood as a bridging strategy that operates on three levels: legal-political, ethical-pedagogical, and metaphysical- theological. In the background is the idea of the world symbolized by the earth. Especially the metaphysical-theological level allows for a cosmological reading: the world as a collective unity that includes physically the earth and morally the human community. The kosmos is thus configured as a global subject that is third (superordinate) with respect to both phenomenon-noumenon dualism and the conflicting reality of states. Thirdness gives the idea practical effects because world can be the supeordinate subject recipient of interstatual treaties and agreements.