The World as a City : A Philosophical Image between the Ancient World and the Three Monotheisms / edited by Ludovica De Luca and Stefano Mecci.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

De Luca, Ludovica, editor.

Mecci, Stefano, editor.

Series:

Ancient Philosophy & Religion ; 13.

Biblical Studies, Ancient Near East and Early Christianity E-Books Online, Collection 2026.

Ancient Philosophy & Religion ; 13

Biblical Studies, Ancient Near East and Early Christianity E-Books Online, Collection 2026

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Classical Studies.

Philosophy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (426 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

A Philosophical Image between the Ancient World and the Three Monotheisms

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2026.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The originality of the present book consists in hosting contributions which deal with the concept of cosmopolitanism and the metaphorical image of the world as a city. These issues are analyzed in their philosophical and religious dimension: Greek-Roman antiquity; Christianity from its origins to the 6th century; the post-Biblical and medieval Jewish tradition; the Islamic tradition up to the 12th century. Particularly, the volume investigates how the philosophical meaning of cosmopolitanism has been modified since its Cynic-Stoic origin: it focuses on its new (and not only theological) meanings inside the three monotheisms.

Contents:

Front Cover

‎Half-Title Page

‎Series Title Page

‎Title Page

‎Copyright Page

‎Contents

‎Preface

‎Notes on Contributors

‎Introduction

‎Bibliography

‎Part 1. The Philosophical and Religious Roots of Cosmopolitanism

‎Chapter 1. "A Dog Who Bites the Friends in Order to Save Them": Cynic Cosmopolitanism (Mecci)

‎1. Introduction

‎2. Cynic Cosmopolitanism

‎3. The Cynic Philanthropy

‎4. An Ethical Cosmopolitanism

‎5. Conclusion

‎Acknowledgement

‎Chapter 2. The Irrelevance of Stoic Cosmopolitanism as a Foundation of Human Dignity and Human Rights (Wildberger)

‎2. Conceptual Clarifications

‎3. Sages

‎4. Children and Fools

‎5. Does Love of Humankind Entail Human Worth Obligations?

‎6. The Disenfranchised: Women and the Enslaved

‎7. Conclusion

‎Chapter 3. Cosmopolitanism in Cicero's Writings (Brouwer)

‎2. Stoic Cosmopolitanism in Latin

‎3. Cicero's Cosmopolitanism

‎4. Conclusion

‎Chapter 4. An Impossible Cosmopolitanism? Philo of Alexandria and the "Great City" (Calabi)

‎1. Adam, the Cosmopolitan Ancestor

‎2. The Cosmos as God's Temple

‎3. The Connection between Being a Citizen of the World and Observing the Law of Nature

‎4. The Two Possible Senses of Cosmopolitanism

‎5. Is Philo's Cosmopolitanism Merely an Ideal Reference? Or Can It Represent a Real Situation, a Conceivable Goal?

‎6. Cosmopolitanism as a Superhuman Condition

‎7. Cosmopolitanism as an Ideal Point of Reference, a Goal for Thought and Desire

‎Chapter 5. Cosmopolitics in Early Christianity? (Engberg-Pedersen)

‎2. Definitions: Stoicism and Philo

‎3. The Basic Obstacle in the New Testament: The Apostle Paul and the Evangelist John as Apocalypticists.

‎4. The Obstacles in the New Testament: Paul and John on the κόσμος

‎5. The Obstacles in the New Testament: Paul and John on Being a Citizen (πολιτεύεσθαι)

‎6. A Parenthesis: Romans 13

‎7. And Yet (1): Possession of the 'Spirit' (πνεῦμα) Breaks Down Ethnic Boundaries

‎8. And Yet (2): Will the Whole of This World Eventually Become Pneumatic?

‎9. And Yet (3): Apocalypticism and Cosmopolitanism

‎Chapter 6. Christians as Citizens of the World: The Testimony of the Early Christian Thinkers (Karamanolis)

‎2. One Society: The Unity Model

‎3. The Superiority Model

‎4. Christians as Citizens of Two Cities

‎Chapter 7. The Necessary Cosmopolitanism: Exile and Anarchy in the Jewish Tradition (Gargiulo)

‎1. Exile and Socialism

‎2. Land and Liberty

‎3. From Exile to Diaspora

‎4. Reprocessing History

‎5. Greek Philosophy

‎6. The Middle Ages and the Modern Age: Spinoza

‎7. Back to Landauer and beyond

‎Chapter 8. "A People That Dwells Alone, and among the Nations" (Nm. 23:9): Cosmopolitanism in the Talmud and the Midrash (Di Porto)

‎1. Israel and Babylonia

‎2. The Relationship with Space

‎3. The Home of Mankind

‎4. Far from Home?

‎5. The Relationship with Other Languages and Cultures: The Example of Hellenism

‎6. The Giving of the Torah, Other Peoples, and Languages

‎7. The Law Away from Home: dina demalkhuta dina

‎8. A Law for the World: The Seven Laws of Noah

‎9. Conclusion

‎Chapter 9. Almost Cosmopolitans: Cosmoxenitia and Cosmopolitanism in the Middle Ages up to the 12th Century (Cavallini)

‎1. "Exilium patria et patria exilium"

‎2. "Omnis mundus philosophantibus exsilium"

‎3. "Quasi patria"

‎4. "Hospites mundi"

‎5. "Peregrinus".

‎6. "Mundo amorem exstinxit"

‎7. Is There Such a Thing as Cosmopolitanism in the Latin Middle Ages?

‎Chapter 10. Political Vision of the Qurʾan: Some Preliminary Remarks (Namazi)

‎1. What Is Political Theology?

‎2. The Qurʾan as a Source

‎3. The Qurʾan and Its Context

‎4. Is Islam a Political Religion?

‎5. Politics, Warfare, and Law

‎Chapter 11. Ibn Sina's Conditional Cosmopolitanism (Erlwein)

‎2. Making Cosmopolitanism Conditional

‎3. Cosmopolitanism and the Universal Human Nature

‎4. Ideal and Reality

‎Chapter 12. The City in the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity: Realism, Allegory and Utopia (Baffioni)

‎2. The "Real City" in Epistle 8

‎3. The "Real City" in Epistle 23

‎4. The "Allegorical City" in Epistle 26

‎5. The "Utopian City" in Epistle 48

‎6. Some Conclusions

‎Part 2. The Metaphor of City in Pagan, Jewish, Christian and Islamic Cosmologies

‎Chapter 13. Plutarch on Divine Order and Political Governance: A Cosmological Reading of To An Uneducated Ruler (Vimercati)

‎2. Plutarch's Revision of Plato's Cosmology: Political Implications

‎3. Know Thyself to Rule the World: On God and Political Commitment

‎4. Kingship and Divinity: On logos as God's Mind and Inner Law

‎5. Likeness to God, Justice, and Geometrical Proportion

‎6. Providence, Fate, and the Governance of the World

‎7. Politics and the Imitation of the Sun

‎8. Conclusions

‎Chapter 14. The Urban Imagery in the Cosmologies of Philo of Alexandria and John Philoponus (De Luca)

‎1. Introduction: The Two De opificio mundi by Philo and Philoponus Compared

‎2. The World and Heaven as a City.

‎3. Cosmogony as a "Great City" in Basil and Philo's Cosmopolitanism

‎4. The Great City of the World in Theodore of Mopsuestia and the Criticism of Philoponus

‎5. "Under One Roof": The Coexistence of Human Beings according to Philoponus

‎6. Conclusions

‎Chapter 15. The World as a City and Its Laws: Note on Augustine's Interpretation of the First Chapters of Genesis (Moro)

‎2. The Simultaneous Foundation of the world and Its Phases

‎3. Representations of the Divine Action towards the Natural World

‎4. Definition and Limits of the Natural Order

‎Chapter 16. The World-City Paradigm and the Macrocosmic Theory in Maimonides' Guide (Di Segni)

‎1

‎2

‎3

‎4

‎5

‎Chapter 17. Natural Laws and Cosmos in al-Fārābī's Political Philosophy (Stella)

‎2. Nature, Reason and Natural Laws

‎3. Natural Laws in the Summary of Plato's Laws

‎4. Cosmic Order and Natural Laws

‎Index of Ancient Sources

‎Index of Modern Authors

‎Index of Subjects

Back Cover.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9789004741898

OCLC:

1548749829

Publisher Number:

10.1163/9789004741898 DOI