Synthesis philosophica, Vol. 24 No. 1, 2009.
Original scientific paper
Is a Global Civil Society Possible? Cosmopolitanism and the Future of Democracy
Jin-Woo Lee
; University Keimyung, Department of Philosophy, Daegu, South Korea
Abstract
This study is inspired by thesis that philosophy constructs its subject all through a certain normative perspective. Philosophical setting of cosmopolitanism question, how to establish society of free and equal “citizens of the world” by means of universalistic morals, gives only the normative horizon of expectations which turns our look down on the irrational reality.
Irrational reality can be defined by the notion of “society of worldly risk” used by Ulrich Beck for identifying the time affected with every possible disaster. Disasters adduce how uncertain are the foundations on which we have built a national state and thereby democracy. The more the risks are becoming global, the more we are becoming enforced to a “worldly-civil awareness”.
Despite of acknowledging risks which are becoming more global, we are primarily the “citizens of the state” and not the “citizens of the world”. We can not, however, deny national state boundaries losing their significance. Starting with presumption how worldly society is more a joint market, the intention is to put accent on “cosmopolitan dimension” of trans-national demarcation in order to develop universalistic morals of worldly-civil society, considering the future of democracy.
Keywords
cosmopolitanism; “world risk society”; universalistic moral; global civil society
Hrčak ID:
41154
URI
Publication date:
29.7.2009.
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