The World as a City: A Philosophical Image between the Ancient World and the Three Monotheisms

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.