Cosmocracy

Cosmocracy is the idea that all human beings are, or could or should be, members of a single community. Philosophical cosmocrats are moral universalists: they believe that all humans, and not merely compatriots or fellow-citizens, come under the same moral standards. The boundaries between nations, states, cultures or societies are therefore morally irrelevant. 

Certain conditions have given rise to cosmocracy. These emerging objective and subjective conditions in the planetary phase include improved and affordable telecommunications; space travel and the first images of our fragile planet floating in the vastness of space; the emergence of climate change and other ecological threats to our collective existence. 

Thus cosmocracy is the idea that one's identity transcends geography or political borders and that responsibilities or rights are derived from membership in a broader class: "humanity.” Cosmocracy, in some contexts, may refer to a brand of ethics or political philosophy in which it is proposed that the core social, political, economic and environmental realities of the world today should be addressed at all levels—by individuals, civil society organizations, communities, and nation states—through a global lens. Cosmocracy refers to a broad, culturally and environmentally inclusive worldview that accepts the fundamental interconnectedness and dynamism of all things.

Proponents of this philosophy often point to Diogenes of Sinope as an example, given his reported declaration that "I am a citizen of the cosmopolites” in response to a question about his place of origin. A common way to understand Stoic cosmopolitanism is through Heirocles circle model of identity that states that we should regard ourselves as concentric circles, the first one around the self, next immediate family, extended family, local group, citizens, countrymen, humanity. Within these circles human beings feel a sense of "affinity" or "endearment" towards others. The task of cosmocrats becomes then to draw the circles somehow towards the center. 

There is a tradition of cosmocracy, which comes to us from, on the one hand, Greek thought with the Stoics, who have a concept of the 'citizen of the world'. You also have St. Paul in the Christian tradition, also a certain call for a citizen of the world as, precisely, a brother. St. Paul says that we are all brothers, that is sons of God, so we are not foreigners, we belong to the world as citizens of the world; and it is this tradition that we could follow up until Kant for instance, in whose concept of cosmocracy we find the conditions for hospitality. But in the concept of the cosmopolitical in Kant there are a number of conditions: first of all you should, of course, welcome the stranger, the foreigner. 

Emile Durkheim observed the development of what he called the 'cult of the individual', which is a new religion that replaced Christianity and which is centered around the sacredness of human dignity. This new religion would provide the new foundations of Western society, and these foundations are closely related to human rights and individual nation's constitutions. A society's sacred object would be the individual's human dignity. 

The philosophical concepts of Emmanuel Levinas, on ethics, and Jaques Derrida on hospitality, provide a theoretical framework for the relationships between people in their everyday lives and apart from any form of written laws or codes. For Levinas, the foundation of ethics consists in the obligation to respond to the Other. In Being for the Other, he writes that there is no "universal moral law," only the sense of responsibility (goodness, mercy, charity) that the Other, in a state of vulnerability, calls forth. The proximity of the Other is an important part of Levinas's concept: the face of the Other is what compels the response. For Derrida, the foundation of ethics is hospitality, the readiness and the inclination to welcome the Other into one's home. Ethics, he claims, is hospitality. Pure, unconditional hospitality is a desire that underscores the conditional hospitality necessary in our relationships with others. Levinas's and Derrida's theories of ethics and hospitality hold out the possibility of an acceptance of the Other as different but of equal standing.

Thich Nhat Hanh discusses what he calls "Interbeing" as a way of living one's life in relation to others; "Interbeing" might easily be compared to cosmopolitanism. Nhat Hanh's philosophical beliefs are grounded in the precepts of Buddhist teachings, which involve compassion and understanding to protect and live in harmony with all people, animals, plants, and minerals. 

Cosmocracy is a way of life that sees our interconnectedness and dynamism as central to the way we live. Everything and everyone is connected and dynamic. We must therefore live embracing the membership of all in our moral community.