Description: "The entire political spectrum of our day, from left to right, reflects the politics of identity. The left speaks of race and gender; the right of blood and soil, homeland and people: the animosity between them is only the difference between the two sides of the same coin. As to universalism? Of that great cause all that seems to remain is an empty shell of legalism and proceduralism. Modern liberalism's prejudicial focus on the rights of individual citizens comes at the expense of a larger commitment to the richness and variety of the human, a focus that can seem as narrow and hidebound as the nationalisms with which it seeks to do battle. In Radical Universalism, Omri Boehm presents a startling and revelatory new reading of Kant as heir to the Biblical prophets and as progenitor of the revolutionary commitment to freedom and equality that is modernity's moral lodestone. His book offers a powerful plea to put this much misunderstood and long forsaken tradition of humanistic universalism at the heart of political life"-- Provided by publisher.
Review Quotes: "An invigorating and timely new book . . . [Boehm] has persuaded me that universalism could be more profoundly transformative than anything offered by the self-styled 'radicals' on either end of the political spectrum." --Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
"[Boehm] calls his [vision] radical for a reason. Boehm's idea is hard to realize--almost impossibly hard, I would say. But that's why reading this cogent, succinct book felt like such a cold plunge, painful but reinvigorating . . . Boehm channels Kant when he writes, 'It is because human beings are open to the question of what they ought to do that they themselves are subjects of absolute dignity.' For the radical universalist, this truth about who we are trumps all else, all borders and constitutions and written laws." --Gal Beckerman, The Atlantic"In this sharply argued and passionate book, Boehm positions himself outside of all conventional categories. It is above all a deeply humanistic attempt to recommit people to the principle of an 'absolute love of humanity.'" --Süddeutsche Zeitung "Boehm raises the flag of universalism, that of the Kantian tradition born of a specific transformation of biblical texts into secular terms...For Boehm, Kant's radical contribution is to establish for the first time 'the idea of humanity...as a moral concept.'" --El País "Democratic visions such as Boehm's [are] essential to frame a practical discourse of shared liberation." --Steve France, Monodweiss