Lectures in Intellectual History David Armitage - The Dark Side of Enlightened Cosmopolitanism: Civilisation and Civil War
Mar 14, 2018
David Armitage, a renowned historian specializing in intellectual and Atlantic history, dives into the complex ties between enlightened cosmopolitanism and civil conflict. He explores how cosmopolitan ideals, often viewed as pacifist, are challenged by the realities of warfare, particularly in the modern context. Armitage examines Kant's ambivalence on peace, the implications of civil wars, and how historical narratives shape our understanding of contemporary conflicts. He argues that these tensions illuminate critical flaws and unexpected consequences in cosmopolitan thought.
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Cosmopolitanism's Pacifist Myth
- Enlightened cosmopolitanism is not inherently pacifist and has conflicted views on war.
- Kantian cosmopolitanism links peace to unsocial sociability, making peace contingent rather than guaranteed.
City, Civility, And Civil War
- Classical ideas tied the city to civilisation and portrayed civil war as the ultimate breakdown of civility.
- Roman and Greek traditions made civil war seem unnatural and especially barbaric within the civitas.
Rome's Civil Wars Reshaped Imagination
- Roman civil wars expanded conceptually as Rome expanded, blurring internal and external warfare.
- Roman narratives shaped later Enlightenment and historiographical understandings of civil war.
