Introduction

The study of ethics is usually understood as being concerned with principles of good conduct that are associated with a system of standards which govern given social organizations. In some cases, the study of ethics seeks to discover these principles from an already existing social order. In other cases, ethics is concerned with formulating normative principles of good conduct from which to establish additional juridical or social standards for communal living. In relation to the study of global ethics, Jacques Derrida has suggested that universal hospitality is a necessary, yet also historically “perverted,” concept that must become thoroughly coextensive with an experience of hospitality if humanity is to ever hope to realize a cosmopolitan condition. This, according to Derrida, is because hospitable behavior is the foundation behind propagating an experience of good social conduct and therefore plays a prominent role in inaugurating any move towards a future cosmopolitan ethic. In many regards, Kant's cosmopolitanism makes a similar claim. If the development of a cosmopolitan condition is to be actualized in practice, then hospitable conduct between states, nations, individuals and associations will be the predominant mechanism from which a system of continued ethics can flourish. This explains why Kant often defines cosmopolitan right as being analogous with a condition of universal hospitality and a condition of peace.