The troubles of cosmopolitanism outside political theory do not end with ‘cosmopolitan pleasures’. From outside theory, a scholar of cosmopolitanism is seen as floating in exaltations such as ‘love of humanity’, ‘brotherhood of men’, ‘responsibility towards the Other (with capital O)’, ‘love thy neighbour’, ‘philanthropy’, ‘peace’ and other notions whose meaning have been almost lost due to their excessive use. These exaltations were attributed to me more often than the connections to an enjoyable ‘cosmopolitan sex&drink’. Even if I was not writing or speaking about these notions, but about migration or about a World Republic, the very fact that I was trying to advance a cosmopolitan theory was considered an expression of these effusions, but mainly an expression of the most paradigmatic ‘exaltation’ associated with cosmopolitanism – ‘love of humanity’. So, at a certain moment I caught myself asking, ‘Do I love humanity?’ An arresting question. Does the theorist of cosmopolitanism feel more love for humanity than the non-cosmopolitan author? Whatever love of humanity means, perhaps theorists of cosmopolitanism do not have a monopoly on it, but it is attributed to them more often than to others. But is it only attributed, or indeed is a theory of cosmopolitanism a ‘symptom’ of the love of humanity? As in the previous apparently dead-end situations, the insight came from the Cynics’ legacy: the Cynics loved humanity with an impossible radical love, and perhaps all love of humanity cannot be otherwise than impossible and radical. And the radical love of humanity starts with the Cynic dog loving his neighbour and his enemy as himself.

THE IMPOSSIBLE COMMAND: ‘LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR!’

‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbour as yourself’, says the Old Testament (Lev 19: 18), to which the New Testament adds, through the words of Saint Paul: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself! Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law’ (Rom. 13: 8–10), while the Gospel according to Matthew extends the call asking you to love your enemy: ‘I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you’ (Matt. 5: 43–6).