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Article: The concept of the cosmopolitan in Greek & Roman thought.
- Article from:
- Daedalus
- Article date:
- June 22, 2008
- Author:
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Cosmopolitan, the English equivalent of the older French word cosmopolite, derives from the ancient Greek term kosmoplites (kosmos pluspolites) to signify "citizen of the world." The original Cynic philosopher Diogenes of Sinope (c. 390-323 B.C.), notorious for his "in your face" discourse and readiness to do everything in public, probably coined this expression and first applied it to himself. (1) "Citizen of the world" suited Diogenes's stance of flouting local conventions in order to demonstrate their lock of goundingin what he took to be the pre-cultural norms of human nature. In light of the hundreds of individual Greek city-states, highly jealous of their autonomy ...