Reason-based deference or ethnocentric inclusivity? Avery Kolers, Richard Rorty, and the motivational force of global solidarity

Abstract

This article uses what Patti Tamara Lenard refers to as the cosmopolitan problem of motivation to discuss the roles of loyalty in two philosophical accounts of global solidarity. Avery Kolers’ Kantian, deontological approach to solidarity as reason-based deference is contrasted with Richard Rorty's controversial, anti-Kantian description of solidarity as ethnocentric inclusivity generated through sentimental education. This article offers critical reflections on the work of these two influential thinkers and combines elements of their theories to contribute a limited but useful response to Lenard's concerns regarding loyalty and the motivation of global solidarity.