Abstract

GONZALEZ, Marié; GONZALEZ, Esther; MARIN, María  and  MARTINEZ, Cynthia. Intercultural Ethics: A Tool to Form Cosmopolitan Citizenship. Frónesis [online]. 2005, vol.12, n.1, pp.94-110. ISSN 1315-6268.

In this research we plan to carry out a revision and theoretical contrast in order to determine the importance of Inter-cultural Ethics in the formation of cosmopolitan citizenship. We start from the concept of citizenship based on a context of growing globalization, where meaning acquires new aspects and hues, and is no longer considered as a local, regional or national condition, but as a global condition. That is to say, we refer to the term “global citizenship” or to the Kantian version of “cosmopolitan citizenship”, that presupposes a person subject to rights inserted within a supra-national community. As a result of this research, we consider the need to link education with the development of a new global ethic, an intercultural ethic which we conceive as an axis of values that justifies and accomodates cultural diversity. In this sense, we need to implement educational practices that form good citizens who put respect for human rights and dignity over and above any religious, political, social, or economic situation, in both the singular and the diverse sense.. This implies an ethics in favor of “the other”, even when he is different, he is to be considered as a valid entity. We require an education that assumes the challange of forming ethical citizens, capable of reflecting on their moral practices and that at the same time are capable of understanding the morals and rights of those who are “different”.

Keywords : Intercultural ethics; education; cosmopolitan citizenship; globalization.