Cosmopolitanism
/ˌkɒzməˈpɒlɪtənɪzəm/noun
The view that all human beings belong to one community, whatever their state or city.
The Greek roots
Literally: “world citizenship”
The story of the word
Asked where he was from, Diogenes the Cynic answered κοσμοπολίτης, a citizen of the world, which in a culture where identity meant your city was closer to a provocation than a boast. κόσμος means order and ornament before it means universe, and cosmetic is the same word applied to a face. The Stoics turned the provocation into doctrine, holding that reason makes one community of all people, and Kant's proposal for a league of states descends directly from that line.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → French → English
- First recorded
- 19th century
Same family
In a sentence
His cosmopolitanism was cheerfully untested until he had to file taxes in two countries.
Stoic cosmopolitanism sits behind a good deal of modern human rights language.