ABSTRACT
Despite its long history, an uncontentious account of the implications of a cosmopolitan ethical perspective still eludes political and moral theorists. This chapter clarifies our understanding of cosmopolitanism as a coherent ethical perspective. International realists have characterized the defining divide in twentieth-century international relations as an antithesis between idealism and realism. Idealistic cosmopolitanism is intricately associated with expressions of the cosmopolitan ideal in European Enlightenment thought, which stressed the significance of human reason in the advancement of civilization. Cosmopolitan views of human unity and rationality tend toward a monistic vision of humanity. Focusing on cruelty, especially the physical kind, also challenges the critics' image of cosmopolitanism as rationalism in putting our sentient aspect to the fore, the feeling rather than thinking human being. The image of cosmopolitanism as imperialism leads us to address the issue of the role and use of coercion in the advancement of ethical goals.
