Political Communities and Cosmopolitanism

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Recommended: Cosmopolitanism vs communitarianism

The intention of this essay is to put forth the idea of which membership in a political community does encompass prioritised moral obligations to its members. This essay will begin in the first section by exploring into the concept of political communities and the obligations which are attached to such an association. The second section will present the argument of which anti-cosmopolitans or communitarians believe that such prioritisation should be duly accorded to the members of a political community, above and beyond that of outsiders from this political communities. The third section will address the flipside of the argument of which cosmopolitans believe that all humans are equal, and there should be no prioritisation of moral duties in its efforts to envisage a global governance in its effort to emphasize on universality and equality. The fourth section will explore more on the tensions between general and associative duties, to make an assessment on whether it is possible to simultaneously fulfil both obligations through the lens of a moderate cosmopolitanism.

Section 1: Political Communities and their Obligations

This section will seek to explain the key aspects which form the basis of the main argument. The main focus on the essay looks into a political community which is a collective arrangement between individuals that is intrinsically linked by a political relationship that encompasses rights and duties to all its members, it is through such membership that privileges and obligations are formed and are usually demarcated by political boundaries which draws a clear line between members and outsiders (Munoz 2012: 57). The virtue of membership to a political community is closely linked to the construct of the state and ...

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...Michael Walzer on International Justice'. Millennium Journal of International Studies Vol 29: 411-425.

Pogge, Thomas. 1992. 'Cosmopolitanism and Sovereignty'. Ethics Vol 103 (1): 48-75

Pogge, Thomas. 2002. 'Cosmopolitanism: a defence'. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy Vol 5 (3): 86-91.

Shapcott, Richard. 2008. 'Anti-cosmopolitanism, pluralism and the cosmopolitan harm principle'. Review of International Studies Vol 34 (2): 185-205.

Tan, Kok-Chor. 2006. 'Priority For Compatriots: Commentary On Globalization And Justice'. Economics and Philosophy Vol 22: 115-123.

Tebble, Adam James. 2006. 'Exclusion for Democracy'. Political Theory 34: 463-487.

Waseem, Afzal. 2008. 'Community, Identity, and Knowledge: A Conceptual Framework for LIS Research'. Library and Information Science Research Electronic Journal (LIBRES)
Volume 18 (1): 1-15.

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