Becoming a Cosmopolitan: What It Means to Be a Human Being in the New Millennium

by Jason D. Hill

In this highly original book, Jason Hill defends a strong form of moral cosmopolitanism and lays the groundwork for a new view of the self. To achieve a radical cosmopolitan identity, he argues it may be necessary to forget aspects of one's racial and ethnic socialization. The idea of forgetting where one came from demands that morally recreated persons disown parts or even all of their cultures if these cultures are oppressive or denigrate human life. Hill draws on existentialism, developmental psychology, and his own experiences as a Caribbean immigrant to the United States to present a philosophy for the new millennium.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published December 29, 1999

About the author

Jason Damian Hill is a Jamaican-American professor of philosophy at DePaul University in Chicago.

Reviews

[Manick Govinda · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important philosophical but very accessible book on what it means - morally, culturally and politically - to become cosmopolitan. Referencing Sartre, Kant and other important philosophical thought Jason Hill puts forward a provocative attack on the prison-house of identity that is based on race, ethnic or nationalism. He also makes it clear that being cosmopolitan isn't being a cultural magpie or tourist. It's underpinned by a strong moral imperative of individual agency, autonomy and character building, being the master of your own destiny. While the likes of Edward Said spoke of multiple identities and cultural hybridity, Hill goes beyond that and attacks the relativism of pluralism, asserting a moral authority that is much needed in our contemporary times. I highly recommend this book.

[Irina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I took the authors class at DePaul and read his book for class, which covered the idealogy that everybody belongs to one form of morals and ethics. Nothing sets us apart, whether race or economics. Cosmopolitans share the idea of "universalism", which is global acceptance and international human dignity. The book is a modern approach to cosmopolitanism and shares his personal challenges and observations while immigrating to the US.