Ancient Philosophy & Religion13 The World as a City

This book investigates the image of world-city and the idea of cosmopolitanism, starting from the Cynic-Stoic tradition to its development in Antiquity and in Jewish, Christian and Islamic philosophical thought from the 1st century BC to the 12th century CE. 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.