The Proceedings of the Twenty-First World Congress of Philosophy

Volume 3, 2007

Human Rights

Sharon Anderson-Gold
Pages 45-50

Cosmopolitan Community and the Law of World Citizenship

In this paper I argue that Kant's concept of cosmopolitan right is the philosophical basis for contemporary international human rights. The law of world citizenship or cosmopolitan right is necessary in order to secure hospitable interactions between individuals and states. Such interactions in turn create an international civil culture or "cosmopolitan condition" which 1 is the source of the further specification and eventual codification of human rights. Human rights, I conclude, are universal because of their international significance and scope and are inherently linked to cosmopolitan values.