Jerusalem Circle

Issue 1 – Universalisms

The idea of universalism, at least in its common expression in our context, is a product of developments that occurred in the Christian Western world within the process of secularization, and it tends to overlook alternative concepts of universalism. Universalism according to whom? Is there such a thing as universalism from the standpoint of eternity, or does any discourse on universalism inevitably reveal a particular point of view? What role does the local and the particular play in shaping supposedly universal reason? To what extent can knowledge embedded in one cultural heritage be translated into binding knowledge for another? What kind of authority can universality claim for itself? The dominant Western universalism that informs the humanities and social sciences upholds values that make possible the construction of the particularity of regions distant from the West, yet at the same time silences the universalism embedded within them.

The inaugural issue of this journal seeks to offer complementary perspectives on the idea of universalism, as well as preliminary directions for thinking about the additional ‘universalisms’ we may need.