To Grasp the Whole World: Politics and Aesthetics Before and After Alexander von Humboldt.

Alexander von Humboldt aimed »to grasp the whole world«. He searched the unknown in order to explain that which was close but incomprehensible as a result of being seen in isolation from the network to which it belongs. All natural, cultural and social phenomena are interrelated and should be studied as a whole. Contrary to a hierarchical scientific methodology based on a first principle that supports the whole, Humboldt conceives a complex network in which every individual element is equally important, despite each having its own unique dimensions and logic. Humboldt’s natural studies, classifications, and measurements, as well as his social, artistic, cultural, political and economic research, make up a theory of the cosmos that connects all of these different spheres.

Alexander von Humboldt aimed »to grasp the whole world«. He searched the unknown in order to explain that which was close but incomprehensible as a result of being seen in isolation from the network to which it belongs. All natural, cultural and social phenomena are interrelated and should be studied as a whole. Contrary to a hierarchical scientific methodology based on a first principle that supports the whole, Humboldt conceives a complex network in which every individual element is equally important, despite each having its own unique dimensions and logic. Humboldt’s natural studies, classifications, and measurements, as well as his social, artistic, cultural, political and economic research, make up a theory of the cosmos that connects all of these different spheres. This book brings together researchers from several fields to reflect on the meaning of »the whole world«, not only in the context of Humboldt’s legacy (Part I), but also in line with the thought of other political scientists before and after Humboldt (Part II) and from the perspective of culture and the arts (Part III).

Soraya Nour Sckell and Damien Ehrhardt
Introduction

Part I: Alexander von Humboldt’s Legacy

Damien Ehrhardt and Hélène Fleury
Science and »Transareality« in Humboldt’s Cosmos
Irene Portela and Domingos Vieira
Cosmos, Citizenship and Justice
João Motta Guedes
The Aesthetics of the Political Image: Analysing the Paintings of Rugendas After Humboldt
Elena Soboleva
From Timor to Brazil with the Support of the Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung

Part II: Politics

Soraya Nour and Claus Zittel
Historiography as Critique of Ideology: The Legacy of Hobbes in International Relations Theory
Christopher Pollmann
»My Home is the Planet«. The Totalizing and Monotonizing Expansion of Individual and Collective Human Life
Pedro Tiago Ferreira
A Cosmopolitan Approach to Just War Theory
Cristina Hermida del Llano
The Importance of Non-Governmental Organisations for Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals: Combatting Racial Discrimination Against of Roma in Europe
Paulo de Brito
Is Cosmopolitanism at Risk?

Part III: Culture and Art

Nguyen Quy Dao
The Art of Calligraphy in the Far-East
Nuno Miguel Proença
Cosmology, Embodiment and Emotions in Arthur Schopenhauer’s Metaphysics of Music
Sara Fernandes
On Personal Identity and Neuroenhancement
Carlos João Correia
Culture and Post-culture

Biographies, Index

• Edited by Soraya Nour Sckell
• Edited by Damien Ehrhardt