Diogenes’ neologism, kosmou polites, was arguably a paradox and a statement of shocking defiance in the ancient Hellenic cultural milieu. Greek public life was one with the polis, and outside the agora and the discussions with fellow citizens, one could only be an animal, not a citizen. Nevertheless, the cosmopolitan ideal has accompanied us, despite the fact that both our knowledge of the kosmos and the character of the polis has been radically transformed, several times, since then. Put another way, while the uncertainty of grounding cosmopolitanism has been affirmed several times before this volume, physical ground
has rarely been considered as a foundation.