Uploaded December 2024 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Lecture at the conference "Enlightenment on Trial", July 5 - 8, 2024
One challenge to Enlightenment universalism is the well-documented history of human concern for some not all victims of injustice. Individuals able to recognize victims on all sides of violent conflicts have always been, and remain today, politically marginal. For similar reasons, there is no popularly supported political party in any country in the world that advocates a “universalistic immigration policy.” The fact that such a policy is politically unfeasible does not weaken the moral truth of universalism. But what does it say about the possibility of an Enlightenment politics?
Lecture at the conference "Enlightenment on Trial", July 5 - 8, 2024
One challenge to Enlightenment universalism is the well-documented history of human concern for some not all victims of injustice. Individuals able to recognize victims on all sides of violent conflicts have always been, and remain today, politically marginal. For similar reasons, there is no popularly supported political party in any country in the world that advocates a “universalistic immigration policy.” The fact that such a policy is politically unfeasible does not weaken the moral truth of universalism. But what does it say about the possibility of an Enlightenment politics?
