Abstract

My aim in this paper is to argue that the pursuit of the cosmopolitan ideal grounded on the subject’s absolute power of self-determination, which is inherited from the Enlightenment, is a futile project because this idea of subjectivity in its different forms cannot provide the self-other relation which allows the unconditioned openness to and responsibility for the other in its particular individuality, a necessary condition to originate the universal community of world citizens. With this aim, I will elaborate on three different forms of intersubjectivity in Kant’s practical philosophy which I take to be forming three different models of cosmopolitan community in accordance with the Enlightenment principles: the kingdom of ends, the just society and the league of nations.