Beiträge zur Politischen Wissenschaft

The relationship between human beings and the cosmos has developed in divergent mythological, poetic, religious, philosophical, scientific, political-juridical, and ecological ways over time. Throughout history the cosmos has been subjected to a scientific perspective as well as to the poetic gaze, both of which contemplate the mysteries of the night, the comets, the king-sun, the moon, and infinity. Several other concepts, such as cosmology, cosmopolitanism, cosmopolitics, cosmopolitan citizenship, cosmopolitan law, and cosmic consciousness are derived from the idea of the cosmos. Cosmopolitanism relates to the ethical ideal of belonging, as a citizen of the world, to a universal community, beyond any links to particular communities. Cosmopolitics corresponds to a dual concern with affording local politics a cosmopolitan dimension and ensuring that global politics has a democratic dimension. This book intends to discuss the various perspectives on the cosmos, cosmopolitanism, cosmopolitics and other related concepts.

Alexander von Humboldt aimed »to grasp the whole world«. He searched the unknown in order to explain that which was close but incomprehensible as a result of being seen in isolation from the network to which it belongs. All natural, cultural and social phenomena are interrelated and should be studied as a whole. Contrary to a hierarchical scientific methodology based on a first principle that supports the whole, Humboldt conceives a complex network in which every individual element is equally important, despite each having its own unique dimensions and logic. Humboldt’s natural studies, classifications, and measurements, as well as his social, artistic, cultural, political and economic research, make up a theory of the cosmos that connects all of these different spheres. This book brings together researchers from several fields to reflect on the meaning of »the whole world«, not only in the context of Humboldt’s legacy (Part I), but also in line with the thought of other political scientists before and after Humboldt (Part II) and from the perspective of culture and the arts (Part III).

In the period between World Wars, the shock of World War 1 and the trauma caused by the conditions of the peace treaties generated an abundance of works on cosmopolitism and supranationalism. In the very period that witnessed the rise of nationalisms, pacifism and cosmopolitan thinking underwent a thorough renewal. While the Socialist International, bolstered by the progress of the Bolshevik revolution, claimed to offer an alternative to the weakness of Western democracies, these experienced a readjustment in the issues linked to cosmopolitanism, fuelled by the leading intellectual theories. Practically all the schools of thought and all the major intellectual figures played a part in this. Important turning points in theory were achieved. This enquiry into the intermediate period between both World Wars aims at outlining an archaeology of models and paradigms in contemporary cosmopolitan thought.

Der Band versammelt die Beiträge eines deutsch-italienischen Symposiums, das im Mai 2022 in der Villa Vigoni stattfand. Ausgangspunkt war die Europa-Rechtsprechung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts und die darin zum Ausdruck kommenden Souveränitätskonflikte. Die Kontroversen um die Rechtsprechung verweisen auf die tieferliegende Frage, welche Bedeutung (nationale) Souveränität in einem Mehrebenen- oder Verbundsystem eigentlich noch haben kann. Sind die Souveränitätskonflikte Ausdruck der Persistenz der Souveränitätsidee und beobachten wir gegenwärtig ihre Renaissance? Oder hat sich Europa im Gegenteil längst von der Idee der Souveränität verabschiedet und sind die Konflikte eher Rückzugsgefechte einzelner nationaler Akteure, die sich (noch) weigern, dies zur Kenntnis zu nehmen? Diese Fragen stehen im Zentrum dieses Sammelbandes, der in interdisziplinärer Perspektive die nationalen, europäischen, rechtlichen, ideengeschichtlichen und politiktheoretischen Gesichter der Souveränität erhellt.

»Authority and Indoctrination. On the Logic of Ideocracies II«: This volume centers on the analysis of ideology-driven dictatorships (Ideocracies) and, inspired by critical rationalism and its procedures of critical verification, offers reflections on a critical theory of totali-tarianism. Research on totalitarianism encompasses the analysis of totalitarian dictatorships as well as forms of totalitarian thinking and respective modes of problem solving.

»The Precarious Connection of Human Rights and Peace. On the Ambivalence of Liberalism and the Patterns of International Law«: Considering world affairs today and the antiliberal currents within western societies (backlash), not to mention the rise of China or Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against the Ukraine, it certainly seems misguided to propagate a so-called triumph of Western values or an »end of history« as Fukuyama perceived 1992 the victory of human rights, democracy and of law itself in the course of the fall of the iron curtain. Although, this does not imply the conclusion that the West has given up its claim to a liberal world order (»the great battle for freedom: a battle between democracy and autocracy«). Following Carl Schmitt’s dictum »whoever invokes humanity wants to cheat« it thus stands to reason to take a critical look at the postulated universality of liberal values in the context of the highly complex relationship between human rights and peace as well as the ambivalence of liberalism, i.e. its universalist façade with discriminatory and imperialistic practices.

In seinem wissenschaftlichen Werk entfaltet Tilo Schabert eine Theorie der Regierungskunst, Modelle der Feldforschung in Regierungswelten, eine Lehre zum Ursprung der Politik in der körperlichen Schöpfung des Menschen, Handlungsanleitungen zur Ausübung von Politik als Beruf, eine Begründung rationaler politischer Wissenschaft in einem Bemühen um Grenzen und Mäßigung, die Ableitung dieses politischen Ethos aus einer kritischen Diagnose der modernen Zivilisation, eine Auseinandersetzung mit gegenläufigen Vorstellungen einer erlösenden ›paradiesischen‹ Gesellschaft.

Im vorliegenden Band wird dieses Werk im Einzelnen kommentiert. Die Autoren, aus verschiedenen Ländern und Disziplinen stammend und an unterschiedlichen Wirkstätten tätig, interpretieren es aus ihren eigenen Perspektiven und im Lichte ihrer beruflichen Erfahrungen. Schaberts Einsichten werden fruchtbar mit verschiedenen politischen, kulturellen, gesellschaftlichen Realitäten konfrontiert. Die Wirkung von ›Politik‹ für alles menschliche Leben wird neu verstanden.