Cosmopolitanism: Eastern and Western Perspectives
February 15, 2022
This background report provides a general overview of the evolution of cosmopolitanism in U.S.-China relations and its wider implications for world affairs.
Theories of cosmopolitanism remain underdeveloped and controversial primarily because they arise almost exclusively from the Anglo-American philosophical tradition and employ its characteristic approaches.
The U.S.-China Research Group on Cosmopolitanism, convened by Philip J. Ivanhoe of Georgetown University in collaboration with Peng Guoxiang of Zhejiang University, brings together nine scholars from the United States and the Chinese cultural sphere. It aims to develop and pursue a structured dialogue around theoretical and practical problems related to cosmopolitanism with the goal of identifying issues of shared concern.
In order to initiate the group's inquiry into the nature and future of cosmopolitanism, each participant has composed a short reflection describing their initial thoughts on cosmopolitanism. These will serve as the basis of their first meeting and provide a good introduction to the work of the research group. Please continue to the Essay section below to read their work.
The members of the research group have also generated a bibliography on cosmopolitanism that will be continually updated in the course of the project.
Philip J. Ivanhoe, chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures and scholar of Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism, was given an honorable mention on the list of the top 25 influential philosophers in the world by Academic Influence.
February 15, 2022
This background report provides a general overview of the evolution of cosmopolitanism in U.S.-China relations and its wider implications for world affairs.
Georgetown University
Zhejiang University
Fudan University
Nanyang Technological University
Wuhan University
California State University at Fullerton
San Francisco State University
Duke University
Hong Kong Baptist University
November 17, 2021
Cosmopolitanism has received increasing attention in recent years as the global nature of the modern world and the multicultural dimensions of contemporary societies become ever more salient. Nevertheless, accounts of the conception and practice of cosmopolitanism remain controversial, primarily…
Peng Guoxiang | November 19, 2021
Philip J. Ivanhoe | November 18, 2021