Fred Dallmayr

Fred Dallmayr’s work is innovative in its rethinking of some of the central concepts of modern political philosophy, challenging the hegemony of a modern “subjectivity” at the heart of Western liberalism, individualism, and rationalism, and articulating alternative voices, claims and ideas. His writings productively confound the logocentrism of Western modernity, while providing alternative conceptions of political community that are post-individualist, post-anthropocentric and relational. The editor has focused on work in three key areas: Critical phenomenology and the study of politics The first selections focus on the philosophical roots of Dallmayr’s work in two of the most innovative intellectual trends of the twentieth century: phenomenology and critical theory. These chapters outline some of the main arguments advanced by practitioners of phenomenology, particularly “existential phenomenology,” as well the guiding ideas of critical theory and critical Marxism, while tracing Dallmayr’s debt to thinkers such as Heidegger, Gadamer, Habermas, Adorno and Merleau-Ponty. Cross-cultural theory These readings illustrate Dallmayr’s explorations beyond the confines of Western culture, as this phase of his thinking turns toward what is now called cross-cultural or “comparative” political theory. In an approach that maintains its linkage with critical phenomenology, Dallmayr asserts that Western (or European-American) political theory can no longer claim undisputed hegemony; rather it must allow itself to be contested, amplified and corrected through a comparison with non-Western theoretical traditions and initiatives. Cosmopolitanism These selections explore the final phase of Dallmayr’s work, in which he applies his insights on cross-cultural studies to the context of global politics, rebutting Samuel Huntington’s “clash of civilizations” thesis, and instead arguing for a cosmopolitanism that takes a middle path between both global universalism and restrictive particularism, advocating sustained dialogue and respectful mutual learning between countries and civilizations.

Farah Godrej is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Riverside. She is the author of Cosmopolitan Political Thought: Method, Practice, Discipline (Oxford University Press, 2011), as well as many articles in journals such as Political Theory, Review of Politics, Polity, and New Political Science. Routledge Innovators in Political Theory

Edited by Terrell Carver, University of Bristol and Samuel A. Chambers, Johns Hopkins University

Routledge Innovators in Political Theory focuses on leading contemporary thinkers in political theory, highlighting the major innovations in their thought that have reshaped the ﬁeld. Each volume collects both published and unpublished texts, and combines them with an interview with the thinker. The editorial introduction articulates the innovator’s key contributions in relation to political theory, and contextualises the writer’s work. Volumes in the series will be required reading for both students and scholars of 21st century politics.

1 William E. Connolly 6. George Kateb Democracy, pluralism and political Dignity, Morality, Individuality theory Edited by John Seery Edited by Samuel A. Chambers and Terrell Carver 7. Hanna Fenichel Pitkin Politics, Justice, Action 2 Carole Pateman Edited by Dean Mathiowetz Democracy, feminism, welfare Edited by Terrell Carver and 8. Richard E. Flathman Samuel A. Chambers Situated Concepts, Virtuosity Liberalism and Opalescent 3 Michael J Shapiro Individuality Discourse, Culture & Violence Edited by P. E Digeser Edited by Terrell Carver and Samuel A. Chambers 9. John G. Gunnell History, Discourses and Disciplines 4. Chantal Mouﬀe Edited by Christopher C. Robinson Hegemony, Radical Democracy, and the Political 10. Fred Dallmayr Edited by James Martin Critical Phenomenology, Cross- cultural Theory, Cosmopolitanism 5. Ernesto Laclau Edited by Farah Godrej Post-Marxism, Populism, and Critique Edited by David Howarth Fred Dallmayr Critical Phenomenology, Cross-cultural Theory, Cosmopolitanism

Edited by Farah Godrej

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YORK ~~o~;J~n~~~upLONDON YORK LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2017 Farah Godrej and Fred Dallmayr The right of Farah Godrej to be identified as editor of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Names: Dallmayr, Fred R. (Fred Reinhard), 1928- author. | Godrej, Farah, editor. Title: Fred Dallmayr : critical phenomenology, cross-cultural theory, cosmopolitanism / edited by Farah Godrej. Other titles: Selections Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, [2017] | Series: Routledge innovators in political theory | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2016052982 | ISBN 9781138955936 (hardback) | ISBN 9781315665986 (e-book) Subjects: LCSH: Political science--Philosophy. | Cosmopolitanism--Political aspects. | Phenomenology. Classification: LCC JA71 .D284 2017 | DDC 320.01--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016052982

ISBN: 978-1-138-95593-6 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-66598-6 (ebk)

Typeset in Bembo by Taylor & Francis Books Contents

Acknowledgements vii

Introduction 1

PART I Critical phenomenology and the study of politics 11 1 Critical phenomenology and the study of politics (1981) 13 2 Beyond possessive individualism (1981) 26 3 Political philosophy today (1984) 51 4 Habermas and rationality (1991) 80 5 Rethinking the political: some Heideggerian contributions (1993) 103

PART II Cross-cultural theory 127 6 Beyond monologue: for a comparative political theory (2004) 129 7 Conversation across boundaries: e pluribus unum? (2003) 144 8 Modes of cross-cultural encounter: reﬂections on 1492 (1996) 160 9 Political self-rule: Gandhi and the future of democracy (2013) 191

PART III Cosmopolitanism 203 10 Global governance and cultural diversity: toward a cosmopolitan democracy (2001) 205 vi Contents 11 Cosmopolitanism: in search of cosmos (2013) 219 12 Mindfulness and cosmopolis: why cross-cultural studies now? (2014) 235

An interview with Fred Dallmayr 250 Index 262 Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the following publishers and journals for permission to reprint the chapters in this collection: Indiana University Press and University of Notre Dame Press for Chapter 1 “Critical Phenomenology and the Study of Politics” in Beyond Dogma and Despair: Toward a Critical Phenomenology of Politics (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press), pp. 1–17. University of Massachusetts Press for Chapter 2 “Beyond Possessive Individu- alism” in Twilight of Subjectivity: Contributions to a Post-Individualist Theory (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press), pp. 8–16, 21–37, and Chapter 4 “Habermas and Rationality” in Between Freiburg and Frankfurt: Toward a Critical Ontology (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press), pp. 132–159. MIT Press for Chapter 3 “Political Philosophy Today” in Polis and Praxis: Exercises in Contemporary Political Theory (Boston, MA: MIT Press), pp. 15–18, 28–46. Cambridge University Press for Chapter 5 “Rethinking the Political: Some Heideggerian Contributions” The Review of Politics, vol. 52(4), pp. 524–552 (1990) © The University of Notre Dame, published by Cambridge University Press, and Chapter 6 “Beyond Monologue: For a Comparative Political Theory” Perspectives on Politics, vol. 2(2), pp. 124–144 (Cambridge University Press). Palgrave Macmillan for Chapter 7 “Conversation Across Boundaries: E Pluribus Unum?” in Dialogue Among Civilizations: Some Exemplary Voices (New York: Palgrave Macmillan), pp. 31–47. State University of New York Press for Chapter 8 “Modes of Cross-Cultural Encounter: Reflections on 1492” in Beyond Orientalism: Essays on Cross-Cultural Encounter (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press), pp. 1–18, 24–37. University of Kentucky Press for Chapter 9 “Political Self-Rule: Gandhi and the Future of Democracy” in Being in the World: Dialogue and Cosmopolis (Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky), pp. 151–161, and Chapter 11 “Cosmopolitanism: In Search of Cosmos” in Being in the World: Dialogue and Cosmopolis (Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky), pp. 30–46. Rowman and Littlefield for Chapter 10 “Global Governance and Cultural Diversity: Toward a Cosmopolitan Democracy” in Achieving Our World: viii Acknowledgements Toward a Global and Plural Democracy (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield), pp. 35–50, and Chapter 12 “Mindfulness and Cosmopolis: Why Cross-Cultural Studies Now?” in Mindfulness and Letting Be: On Engaged Thinking and Action (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books), pp. 99–113. Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders for their permission to reprint material in this book. The publishers would be grateful to hear from any copyright holder who is not here acknowledged and will undertake to rectify any errors or omissions in future editions of this book. Introduction

From the earliest moments of a career spanning over five decades, Fred Dallmayr’s work has sought to rethink some of the central concepts of modern political philosophy. Above all, it has challenged the hegemony of a modern “subjectivity” at the heart of Western liberalism, individualism, and rationalism, clearing a space for alternative voices, claims and ideas. Dallmayr has been among those who have most productively confounded the crucial lynchpin of Western modernity, Descartes’“cogito, ergo sum,” along with its attendant egocentrism and logocentrism. He has consistently articulated the effects on traditional political theory of newer intellectual and philosophical trends pointing in the direction of “post-individualist” or “post-egocentric” theories of selfhood. His work draws attention to the costs imposed by the modern attachment to subjectivity and anthropocentric individualism, while construing the political community not as a totalizing unity but as a differentiated whole where freedom and solidarity can co-exist. Rather than seeking to discard the individual subject, however, he recasts this entity as an emergent and relational being capable of transformation. Dallmayr has thus contributed to a renewal of political philosophy, while militating against both the disdain for truth on the one hand, expressed in the lure of relativistic nihilism, and doctrinaire rigidity on the other, manifest in the complacency of traditionalism. The double opposition to both relativism and doctrinaire rigidity is precisely the gist of one of his earliest books, Beyond Dogma and Despair. Here he innovates by introducing the idea of “critical phenomenology,” arguing that taken together, phenomenology and critical theory possess an affinity in the domain of political practice – the former remains wedded to the necessity of concrete human experience, while the latter focuses on critiquing the effects of exploitation and domination in that experience. A “critical-phenomenological” outlook, he tells us, is “wedded to the exploration of the implicit and sometimes obscure ‘logos’ of ‘phenomena,’ that is, to the decoding of the ‘meaning’…of all kinds of human experiences” (Beyond Dogma and Despair, pp. 3–4). The distinguishing feature of phenomenology is its effort to build a bridge between the mind (or cogito) and the world of phenomena through an act of focused intention and perceptual awareness, which (in the words of Edmund 2 Introduction Husserl) leads “to the things themselves.” Phenomenology, Dallmayr notes, rejects the objectivism of the detached consciousness gazing at the world and insists on the embeddedness of this gazing subject within the world. It sees the relationship between subject and world as “one between a primary web of latent meanings and a derivative effort of clarification” (Beyond Dogma and Despair, p. 11). But in order to avoid the pitfalls of purely descriptive exercises that claim normative neutrality and thus turn into a version of positivism, Dallmayr suggests that we marshal the resources of critical theory, resulting in what he calls critical phenomenology. Critical theory, that school of Continental thought which draws on Marxism to liberate human beings from oppressive structures, when married with phenomenology, produces a critical phenomenology of politics. Such a critical phenomenology revolves around concrete inter- subjective experience, but in a way that is normatively grounded; it is both open to the understanding revealed by experience, but also alert to the need for critically scrutinizing the cognitive and normative standards that structure such experience, particularly in the realm of socio-economic and political relations. Ultimately, however, Dallmayr insists, “concrete experience of the world comes first, world-critique second; openness to and understanding of the other is prior to critical opposition” (see ‘An Interview with Fred Dallmayr’ in this volume). Dallmayr acknowledges his debt to a variety of Continental schools of thought, ranging from phenomenology to hermeneutics, the Frankfurt school, and deconstructionism. His debt to phenomenology allows him to produce a critique of the egocentrism of modern Western thought, along with the possessive individualism, subjectivism and anthropocentrism which accompany it. Deftly taking us through the terrain of the structuralist and anti-subjectivist views of thinkers such as Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger, Gadamer, Althusser, Foucault and Derrida (along with what he calls their dismantling of “egological” pretensions), Dallmayr excavates aspects of these thinkers which divest our understanding of anthropocentric leanings – without lapsing into reification or objectivism. He points to our proclivity to treat the entire world as an assembly of objects or phenomena amenable to inspection by a detached mind or consciousness, delineating a path pointing past the West’s traditional metaphysical doctrines. Perhaps no thinker has influenced Dallmayr more in this regard than Heidegger, whose work he exegetes with great care and nuance. It is Heidegger’s notion of Dasein, Dallmayr shows, which challenges the traditional emphasis in Western thought on desire, will, and deliberate intentionality. Decentering this emphasis for Heidegger involves what Dallmayr calls a shift in accent: without negating deliberate action or intentionality, Heidegger’s work provides a model of action “beyond the confines of purposive goal attainment,” a “released or non-attached mode of activity” which entails “resoluteness of released engagement,” while eschewing instrumental pursuits or ideological programs (The Other Heidegger, pp. 58–59). However, Dallmayr cautions against the full-fledged adoption of anti-humanism, for despite the powerful critique of the traditional anthropocentric universe, anti-humanist and anti-subjectivist positions are in danger of Introduction 3 lapsing into a pure objectivism, which curtails the reflective capacity required for wise critique by downgrading the role of individual reason. Instead, he argues for “reinterpreting individualism in a non-subjectivist and non-anthropocentric direction,” calling for “an open-ended, non-possessive individuality enmeshed in, but not entirely congruous with, its surroundings” (Twilight of Subjectivity, pp. 11–12). He calls this a “deflated and non-possessive conception” of humanness (Twilight of Subjectivity, p. 31), which mediates between mastery and blind submission, a conception favoring “partnership and attentive care for nature and fellow humans” (Twilight of Subjectivity, p. 12). Man, on this view, would be “less the master than the servant of his world; loath to accept praise, he would readily assume responsibility for any detrimental effects of his behavior on his environment” (Twilight of Subjectivity, p. 31). Dallmayr’s commitment to critical phenomenology has extended into his understanding of the relationship between philosophical contemplation and political practice. Here, too, the influence of Heidegger’s critique of traditional Western ontology is particularly visible. Heidegger points out the tendency of this ontology to “effect a ‘doubling of the world’, either by juxtaposing a world of ‘essences’ to the world of ‘appearances’, or by stipulating a substantive foundation or cause of the world” (Polis and Praxis, p. 24). It is such foundationalism which Dallmayr repeatedly resists, insisting that the world of empirical experience not be relegated to the status of a mere shadow of reality. In keeping with his phenomenological commitments, Dallmayr asserts that seeing the world fresh and anew, and interpreting one’s experience of it while being utterly engaged and enmeshed in it, is a crucial domain of the philosophical life. Our concrete experience of the world is, to some extent, the condition for our philosophical reflection upon it. Through engagement with the work of Leo Strauss, Dallmayr also illuminates the risks entailed in divorcing philosophical reflection from the exigencies of actual political engagement. Highlighting the dangers of a philosophy that may lapse into vacuity when segregated from the domain of politics and practical life, Dallmayr notes that the “spectator” theory of knowledge favored by thinkers like Strauss turns philosophy into a purely contemplative rather than an engaged endeavor. This robs philosophy of its potential for insight, for practical reflection. Philosophy, as Dallmayr notes, “cannot simply be regarded as a font of wisdom or knowledge, exempt from the need to learn from concrete-scientific explorations” (Polis and Praxis, p. 40). In fact, “precisely when the accent is placed on praxis or practical political participation – and away from the ‘spectator’ role – do moral questions begin to matter or to acquire concrete significance” (Polis and Praxis, p. 44). It is this commitment to a critical phenomenology that gives rise to the latter phase of his career, moving toward cross-cultural and comparative political theory. In this next phase, Dallmayr’s work proceeds from the assumption that under present conditions, Western (or European-American) political theory can no longer claim undisputed hegemony; it must allow itself to be contested, amplified and corrected through a comparison with non-Western theoretical traditions and initiatives. Dallmayr is widely acknowledged to be one of the 4 Introduction primary forces behind the inauguration of this field of cross-cultural theory, also called “comparative political theory.” His early elaborations of comparative theorizing involve a deepening of the influence of Heidegger and Gadamer, and are thus deeply grounded within phenomenology and hermeneutics. Yet the approach retains the linkage with critical theory, now represented less by thinkers of the Frankfurt School and more by thinkers such as Edward Said, Tzvetan Todorov and Mahatma Gandhi. Dallmayr was among the first to associate the hegemony of Western metaphysics with a version of imperialism, insisting that the West’s monopoly over modes of theorizing be replaced by “the lateral interaction, negotiation, and contestation among different, historically grown cultural frameworks” (“Beyond Monologue,” p. 249). Dallmayr suggests that the turn beyond the traditional Western canon holds the potential to rekindle the critical capacity endemic to political philosophy, for moving from the domain of habitual familiarity into the direction of that which is unfamiliar and unsettling is likely to restore the sense of “wonderment” he considers crucial to it. Dallmayr is deeply sensitive to the question of power inequities in relations among civilizations and their members, effectively citing colleagues like Said and Derrida for whom power structures our ability to understand and engage with otherness. Noting that certain forms of political “Orientalism” operate within Western political thought, Dallmayr points to the “ethnocentric confinement” of the discipline’s exclusive focus on Western universalist, rationalist, subjectivist metaphysics and canonical texts. Thus he repeatedly brings out the potentially subversive aspects of the turn toward comparative political theory, insisting that its primary task be to critically challenge the hegemony of settled Western doctrines such as liberalism, while putting pressure on political theory to reconsider its canonical attachments. Dallmayr identifies certain Western thinkers as offering us an opening toward comparative political theory, citing Wittgenstein, Husserl, Heidegger, Gadamer, and Derrida, and the literatures of hermeneutics, phenomenology, and deconstruction. The influence of Gadamer’s hermeneutic view is particularly evident in this phase of Dallmayr’s work, where he calls for the task of cross-cultural theorizing to be primarily dialogical in nature, calling for a “non-coercive global discourse” (Dialogue Among Civilizations, p. 32) conducted across national and civilizational boundaries. Discourse theorists like Habermas, on Dallmayr’s view, have made commendable efforts at developing a global model of rational communication detached from Western metaphysics. Yet he interrogates the character of Habermasian communication, arguing that it privileges certain kinds of voices over others through the demarcation between proper and improper or rational and irrational forms of communication. This conception, Dallmayr demonstrates, is tailored to traditional claims of rational validity, and thus marginalizes certain modes of interaction, particularly those that originate outside the Western world. In its place, Dallmayr endorses the concept of “thick conversation” put forth by Charles Taylor, calling for a dialogical engagement that is a “trans-subjective happening” (Dialogue Among Civilizations, p. 45) Introduction 5 without attempts at appropriating or assimilating the other, and without a monologically imposed standard of rationality that assumes manipulation or control of the other. Dallmayr’s model constitutes “a normative standard [that] demands ‘emancipatory care’ and a policy of ‘letting be’,” a “‘letting’ that allows the other to gain freedom and identity while making room for cultural difference and diversity” (Beyond Orientalism, p. 3). Thus Dallmayr’s idea of dialogical engagement entails a “nonassimilative affirmation of the other as subject,” a “loving engagement which preserves reciprocal freedom,” experiential openness, and an attitude of agonal interdependence (Beyond Orientalism, pp. 32–33). Dallmayr was the first in his generation to pose critical methodological questions about the very scope and purpose of comparative political theory. For instance, he asks whether comparative study favors a parochial “identity politics” and thus betrays the aspirations to universality inherent in modernity. Dallmayr argues that comparative political theory is capable of moving in the direction of a more genuine universalism, beyond the spurious “universality” traditionally claimed by the West and the Western canon. He also interrogates whether cross-cultural communication is entirely benign, asking whether there may be limits to both our desirability and willingness to understand otherness, particularly when its unfamiliarity presents features which are offensive or repugnant to one’s own understanding. Dallmayr thus raises important questions pertaining to cross-cultural judgment, insisting that critique proceed not from a presumed self-righteousness or hegemonic arrogance but rather from a shared engagement and a willingness to undergo a mutually transformative learning process. A key aspect of Dallmayr’s project is to outline a conception of cosmopolitanism that forms the cornerstone of his work on comparative theorizing. The term cosmopolitanism has been replete with multiple contested meanings, and Dallmayr was among the earliest thinkers to map out and clarify for us these various meanings. In keeping with his commitment to phenomenology, Dallmayr provides an ethical, experiential understanding of cosmopolitanism understood in terms of anti-anthropocentric relationality and intersubjectivity. Deeply con- cerned with the processes by which diverse cultures and societies respond to the process of globalization, he argues that cosmopolitanism cannot be advanced merely through “institutional tinkering” and “structural reform,” although these mechanisms are no doubt crucial. Rather, it requires sustained cross-cultural interactions of the sort that he has already hinted toward: “reciprocal learning processes involving many dimensions of people’s concrete or ordinary lives” (Achieving Our World, p. 46). Here again we see the influence of Gadamer, involving the primacy of practice over cognition and, more specifically, the primacy of ethical conduct in concrete situations over the abstract knowledge of normative rules and legal principles. Dallmayr’s notion of cosmopolitanism is thus engaged and experiential, an existential and intellectual openness; that is, a “willingness to open oneself to the ‘non-self’ manifest in other customs, other idioms, other practices” (Mindfulness and Letting Be, p. 105). In keeping with his hermeneutic model of cross-cultural dialogue, the emphasis in Dallmayr’s work is on seeking over finding, for he effectively 6 Introduction portrays the task of encountering otherness as infinite and ongoing, rather than as characterized by a clear end-goal. Always a dialogical project, the encounter with otherness relies on the constant openness to what emerges within the encounter itself, rather than the attempt to fix, finalize or make otherness comprehensible once and for all. Dallmayr also sees both potential and pitfalls within this encounter, expressing caution about assuming the complete intel- ligibility of all otherness, yet refusing to sink into relativism and assume utter incommensurability. He is emphatic that while cross-cultural inquiry is meant not to foster the clash of civilizations but to serve as its antidote, it entails neither the judgment of non-Western societies and cultures from the presumed height of Western “exceptional” perfection, nor a “spectatorial” exercise or a “view from nowhere” which seeks to assess different phenomena in a neutral fashion. Rather, the “willingness of the open self to become seriously engaged with the encountered ‘non-self’” (Mindfulness and Letting Be, p. 106) requires foregoing the temptation to abscond into a detached neutrality that assumes complete transparency on the one hand, but on the other hand also resists plunging into the abyss of relativism and incommensurability. Dallmayr’s dialogical, experiential model of cross-cultural understanding thus inherently resists being appropriated for neoliberal and/or military purposes. Much cultural inquiry, Dallmayr laments, is readily enlisted in corporate or military agendas, which pay lip service to the importance of globalization, along with the growing proximity of cultures and the emergence of the “global village.” But in many such cases, understanding otherness is seen as merely a stepping-stone to the instrumental purposes of economic gain or military advantage. Instead, Dallmayr insists on the intrinsic good of comparative inquiry, an inquiry worth undertaking for its own sake and for the sake of humanizing both oneself and other. For precisely this reason, Dallmayr has characterized politics as “the ongoing initiation into the practice of friendship” (Polis and Praxis, p. 43), a practice which exceeds traditional boundaries and involves a mutual respect for difference. Friendship, Dallmayr notes, “involves not only enjoyment of the familiar, but also an openness toward the unfamiliar and even a readiness to ‘risk oneself,’ at times, in untried relationships…an exploration which does not simply cultivate the near at the expense of the distant” (Polis and Praxis, p. 44). This risking of the self, combined with hospitality and a generosity of spirit, remains the most crucial orientation underlying Dallmayr’s work. It is this orientation, characterized by a fervent existential yearning for global peace with justice, which constitutes the firm commitment undergirding and unifying all of Dallmayr’s writings. This volume concentrates selectively on three themes that are predominant within Dallmayr’s corpus, and which thus constitute its three parts: critical phenomenology, cross-cultural theory (also called “comparative political theory”); and cosmopolitanism. Part I on critical phenomenology forms the foundation for the other two parts of the book. In this first part, the emphasis is on the philosophical roots of Dallmayr’s work in two of the most innovative intellectual trends of the twentieth century: phenomenology and critical theory. The Introduction 7 opening chapter of Part I, “Critical phenomenology and the study of politics,” is excerpted from one of Dallmayr’s earliest books, entitled Beyond Dogma and Despair: Toward a Critical Phenomenology of Politics (1981). The chapter delineates some of the main arguments advanced by practitioners of phenomenology, particularly “existential phenomenology,” as well as the guiding ideas of critical theory and critical Marxism. Chapter 2 is excerpted from the book published roughly at the same time, Twilight of Subjectivity: Contributions to a Post-Individualist Theory (1981). This chapter takes aim at the egocentrism of modern Western thought, outlining some of its main variants (from “transcendental” egocentrism to “practical subjectivity” to economic “possessivism”). The critique of this orientation, however, does not entail an endorsement of anti-humanism, as advocated by some postmodern thinkers. Rather, the chapter pleads for a situated individualism and a “reductio hominis” as proposed by both Heidegger and Adorno. Chapter 3, “Political philosophy today” (Dallmayr’s inaugural lecture at the University of Notre Dame) is excerpted from his book Polis and Praxis: Exercises in Contemporary Political Theory (1984). This chapter demonstrates Dallmayr’s engagement with two thinkers who over time became his chief mentors: Heidegger and Merleau-Ponty. Moreover, it seeks to shift the accent away from a purely epistemic or cognitive essentialism in the direction of a more practical orientation, as outlined in the works of Aristotle, Hannah Arendt, Michael Oakshott, and some critical theorists. The remaining two chapters 4 and 5 in this part point toward Dallmayr’s steadily deepening involvement with the thought of Heidegger and his (at least partial) move away from Habermasian rationalism. The chapter “Habermas and rationality” is excerpted from the book Between Freiburg and Frankfurt: Toward a Critical Ontology (1991). It scrutinizes and critiques the quasi-Kantian and formalist features of Habermas’s turn to “communicative reason,” with an accent on the epistemological character of validity claims. The deepening involvement with Heidegger’s thought is evident in the closing chapter “Rethinking the political: Some Heideggerian contributions,” excerpted from the book The Other Heidegger (1993). The chapter takes its departure from the distinction between “politics” and “the political,” where the former refers to concrete policy-making and the latter to the frame of reference within which politics takes place. The thesis of the chapter is that Heidegger’s promising contributions deal primarily with the latter. The accent is placed on four areas: the status of the subject or individual as political agent; the character of the political community; the issue of cultural- political development or “modernization”; and the prospect of an emerging cosmopolis beyond the confines of Western culture. Part II on “Cross-cultural theory” directly follows from Dallmayr’s exploration of these last two points. In this next phase, Dallmayr’s work now turns toward the inauguration of the field of “cross-cultural theory,” also called “comparative political theory.” The opening Chapter 6 of this part, “Beyond monologue” (Perspectives on Politics, 2004), sets engaged interactive theorizing against the egocentric and Eurocentric character of modern Western thought. The chapter profiles some of the leading pioneers in this emerging field, while 8 Introduction also discussing the political and the philosophical motivations underlying their initiatives, as well as the dilemmas likely to be encountered in comparative political theorizing. Chapter 7, “Conversation across boundaries,” is excerpted from the book Dialogue Among Civilizations (2002) and pays tribute chieflyto Gadamer’s hermeneutics. It shows how cultural boundaries need to be both respected and transgressed in genuine cross-cultural comparison. Whatever mutual understanding or “unity” may emerge must arise out of the conversation itself and cannot be presupposed a priori or superimposed by any party. Chapter 8, titled “Modes of cross-cultural encounter,” is excerpted from Beyond Orientalism (1996) and pays tribute to the works of Said and Todorov. It offers an overview of the spectrum of cross-cultural interactions, ranging from conquest and conversion, to selective borrowing and assimilation, to engaged learning and mutual transformation. The closing Chapter 9, “Political self-rule,” from the book Being in the World (2013), provides an example of cross-cultural political theorizing by contrasting Gandhi’s conception of ethical, democratic self-rule with prevalent Western conceptions of democracy equated with the pursuit of private or collective self-interest. The final Part III on “Cosmpolitanism” is a further continuation of the concern with cross-cultural studies, now re-situated in the context of international or global politics. Dallmayr’swritingsinthisfield are a response to and a rebuttal of Samuel Huntington’s “clash of civilizations” thesis. As the process of globalization profoundly reshapes the relations between civilizations, rendering retreat into national or ethnic parochialism increasingly dubious and hazardous, Dall- mayr’s cosmopolitanism counsels a path between both global universalism and restrictive particularism. This path is charted in broad outline in the opening chapter “Global Governance and Cultural Diversity,” from the book Achieving Our World (2001). Chapter 10 offers an overview of different orderings of the globe, from Kant’s normative vision of a Völkerbund to Huntington’s realist power politics. Although recognizing the need for institutional structuring, Dallmayr’s essay places much hope in the cultivation of a “global civic culture” achieved through dialogue and mutual learning. Chapter 11, “Cosmopolitanism: in search of cosmos,” is excerpted from Being in the World (2013). It differ- entiates between three senses – empirical, normative, and practical – of the terms “globalization” and “cosmopolitanism.” It is the third sense which Dallmayr finds most productive: cosmopolitanism viewed as a matter of practical engagement and concrete ethical conduct, a pedagogy fostering global civic “virtues” and reconciling the global/local conundrum. The concluding Chapter 12, “Mindfulness and cosmopolis,” is excerpted from Mindfulness and Letting Be (2014). It brings together cross-cultural studies and cosmopolitanism by placing both in the service of precisely such a pedagogy, one that is oriented toward global understanding and peace. To close, this volume presents an original interview with Fred Dallmayr. In this interview, Dallmayr elaborates more broadly on a variety of topics such as the influence of phenomenology, hermeneutics, and deconstruction on his writings, the manner in which they relate to his interests in cross-cultural or Introduction 9 comparative theorizing, secularization and the role of religion in politics, the fate of liberal democracy in an increasingly globalized world, the future of comparative political theory and of genuine cosmopolitanism. Together with the writings collected in this volume, the interview provides us with a wide-ranging discussion of the highlights of Dallmayr’s vast corpus. It underscores for us the centrality, relevance and prolific nature of his work, and reminds of the ongoing salience of the many crucial questions he has raised for us over the years.

References Dallmayr, Fred R. Beyond Dogma and Despair: Toward a Critical Phenomenology of Politics. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1981. Dallmayr, Fred R. Twilight of Subjectivity: Contributions to a Post-Individualist Theory. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1981. Dallmayr, Fred R. Polis and Praxis: Exercises in Contemporary Political Theory. Boston, MA: MIT Press, 1984. Dallmayr, Fred R. Between Freiburg and Frankfurt: Toward a Critical Ontology. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1991. Dallmayr, Fred R. The Other Heidegger (Contestations). Ithaca, NY: University of Massachusetts Press, 1993. Dallmayr, Fred R. Beyond Orientalism: Essays on Cross-Cultural Encounter. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1996. Dallmayr, Fred R. Achieving Our World: Toward a Global and Plural Democracy. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littleﬁeld, 2001. Dallmayr, Fred R. Dialogue Among Civilizations: Some Exemplary Voices. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. Dallmayr, Fred R.Beyond Monologue: For a Comparative Political Theory. Perspectives on Politics 2(2), 2004, pp. 124–144. Dallmayr, Fred R. Being in the World: Dialogue and Cosmopolis. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2013. Dallmayr, Fred R. Mindfulness and Letting Be: On Engaged Thinking and Action. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2014. Introduction Dallmayr, Fred R. Beyond Dogma and Despair: Toward a Critical Phenomenology of Politics. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 1981. Dallmayr, Fred R. Twilight of Subjectivity: Contributions to a Post-Individualist Theory. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1981. Dallmayr, Fred R. Polis and Praxis: Exercises in Contemporary Political Theory. Boston, MA: MIT Press, 1984. Dallmayr, Fred R. Between Freiburg and Frankfurt: Toward a Critical Ontology. Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 1991. Dallmayr, Fred R. The Other Heidegger (Contestations). Ithaca, NY: University of Massachusetts Press, 1993. Dallmayr, Fred R. Beyond Orientalism: Essays on Cross-Cultural Encounter. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1996. Dallmayr, Fred R. Achieving Our World: Toward a Global and Plural Democracy. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2001. Dallmayr, Fred R. Dialogue Among Civilizations: Some Exemplary Voices. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002. Dallmayr, Fred R. Beyond Monologue: For a Comparative Political Theory. Perspectives on Politics 2(2), 2004, pp. 124â144. Dallmayr, Fred R. Being in the World: Dialogue and Cosmopolis. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2013. Dallmayr, Fred R. Mindfulness and Letting Be: On Engaged Thinking and Action. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2014.