Münsterberg's Cosmocorism and Duchamp's Pacifism: Rethinking Borders in Pandemic Times

The article, published on Artribune Magazine #59, revisits the pacifist ideas of psychologist Hugo Münsterberg, who in his 1914 essay "War and America" proposed that wars would cease if nations did not own territories. Münsterberg coined the term "cosmocorism" to describe a total fusion of territories and abolition of borders, contrasting with Kantian cosmopolitanism which maintains borders but advocates free passage. The author connects this to Marcel Duchamp, who in 1915 admired those who fought wars "with folded arms." Duchamp, along with activist Gertrude Drick and painter John Sloane, climbed the Washington Arch in Manhattan in January 1917 to proclaim the Independent Republic of Greenwich Village, an act seen as a precursor to "Not In My Name" protests and a reflection of Münsterberg's cosmocorism. The article argues that over a century later, nations remain tethered to obsolete notions of national territory, especially during the pandemic, where border closures prove ineffective against a universal virus. It questions whether it is time to reconsider cosmocorism.