벤하비브(S. Benhabib)의 세계주의에서 이주의 도덕성과 민주적 정당성의 역설

The existence of ‘strangers’ has been a serious topic since ancient philosophy. In dealing with the problem of refugees, cosmopolitanism, ethics for others, and citizenship in a constitutional democracy are significant issues in legal philosophy. This paper draws attention to Seyla Benhabib among scholars who embrace these philosophical themes and issues. A phenomenon of transnational migration is essential in Benhabib’s discussion. In particular, she provides the theoretical foundation and practical implications to realize the universal human rights of strangers such as aliens, immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, through constitutional democracy of the modern nation-states. Benhabib adopts Kant’s cosmopolitanism, Arendt’s understanding of human rights, and Habermas’s discourse ethics as philosophical foundations. Also, she accommodates postmodern thoughts such as Derrida’s deconstructionism and cultural studies to achieve her normative cosmopolitan ideal. Then she explores the possibility of harmonizing the universalistic human rights and democratic sovereignty in political entities. This paper first examines Benhabib’s diagnosis of world society in the context of i) the crisis of territoriality, ii) the international human rights regime, and iii) disaggregation of citizenship. Then the paper reviews Kant’s cosmopolitan rights and Arendt’s concept of ‘right to have rights,’ and highlights the ‘paradox of democratic legitimacy.’ Next, in reviewing Benhabib’s argument regarding the possibilities of dialectic relations between universalist human rights and democratic sovereignty, the paper evaluates the process of ‘democratic iterations,’ which is the core notion of Benhabib’s cosmopolitan federalism.