Philosophy Dictionary of ArgumentsHome
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| Liberalism: Liberalism in political philosophy is a set of beliefs that emphasize individual liberty, equality, and the rule of law. Liberals believe that individuals should be free to live their lives as they see fit. See also Libertarianism, Communitarianim, Individualism, Freedom, Society, Democracy._____________Annotation: The above characterizations of concepts are neither definitions nor exhausting presentations of problems related to them. Instead, they are intended to give a short introduction to the contributions below. – Lexicon of Arguments. | |||
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Communitarianism on Liberalism - Dictionary of Arguments
Gaus I 172 Liberalism/Communitarianism/Dagger: Those enlisted on the communitarian side of the Debate [between liberals and communitarians] have pressed four major objections against their 'liberal' or 'individualist' opponents. 1) the first is the complaint, already noted in Walzer, that abstract reason will not bear the weight philosophers have placed on it in their attempts to ground justice and morality. This 'Enlightenment project' (MacIntyre, 1981(1)) is doomed by its failure to recognize that reasoning about these matters cannot proceed apart from shared traditions and practices, each with its own set of roles, responsibilities, and virtues. 2) second, the liberal emphasis on individual rights and justice comes at the expense of civic duty and the common good. In Sandel's words, 'justice finds its limits in those forms of community that engage the identity as well as the interests of the participants. LTJo some I owe more than justice requires or even permits in virtue of those more or less enduring attachments and commitments which taken together partly define the person I am' (1982(2): 179, 182). 3) Contemporary liberals are blind to these enduring attachments and commitments, according to the third charge, because they too often rely on an atomistic conception of the self - an 'unencumbered self' in Sandel's terms - that is supposedly prior to its ends and attachments. Such a conception is both false and pernicious, for individual selves are largely constituted by the communities that nurture and sustain them. When Rawls and other 'deontological liberals' teach individuals to think of themselves as somehow prior to and apart from these communities, they are engaged quite literally in a self-defeating enterprise. >M. Sandel. 4) the fourth objection, then, is that these abstract and universalistic theories of justice and rights have contributed to the withdrawal into private life and the intransigent insistence on one's rights against others that threaten modern societies. There is little sense of a common good or even a common ground on which citizens can meet. In MacIntyre's words, the conflict between the advo- cates of incommensurable moral positions has so riven modern societies that politics now 'is civil war carried on by other means' (1981(1): 253). For a valuable, full-length survey of this debate, see Mulhall and Swift, 1996(3). >Communitarianism, >Communitarianism as an author, >A. MacIntyre. 1. MacIntyre, Alasdair (1981 ) After Virtue: A Study in Moral Theory. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press. 2. Sandel, Michael (1982) Liberalism and the Limits of Justice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 3. Mulhall, Stephen and Adam Swift (1996) Liberals and Communitarians, 2nd edn. Oxford: Blackwell. Dagger, Richard 2004. „Communitarianism and Republicanism“. In: Gaus, Gerald F. & Kukathas, Chandran 2004. Handbook of Political Theory. SAGE Publications_____________Explanation of symbols: Roman numerals indicate the source, arabic numerals indicate the page number. The corresponding books are indicated on the right hand side. ((s)…): Comment by the sender of the contribution. Translations: Dictionary of Arguments The note [Concept/Author], [Author1]Vs[Author2] or [Author]Vs[term] resp. "problem:"/"solution:", "old:"/"new:" and "thesis:" is an addition from the Dictionary of Arguments. If a German edition is specified, the page numbers refer to this edition. |
Communitarianism Gaus I Gerald F. Gaus Chandran Kukathas Handbook of Political Theory London 2004 |
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> Counter arguments against Communitarianism
> Counter arguments in relation to Liberalism
Ed. Martin Schulz, access date 2024-04-16