Politička zajednica : koncepcija političke zajednice u liberalno-komunitarnom sporu

Abstract

POLITICAL COMNUNITY THE CONCEPTION OF POLITICAL COMMUNITY IN THE LIBERAL-COMMUNITARIAN DISPUTE

Summary

This study deals with the discussion between liberals and communitarians about the notion of political community, that is, its possibility of formation, scope, and its normative aspects. It is about the issue which has begun in the eighties with communitarian criticism of Rawls’s theory of justice. In the introductory consideration,the relevancy of the topic is explained, the accounts of the crucial concepts are presented, a short history of this concept in philosophic literature is outlined, as well as the essential aspects of the dispute between liberalism and communitarianism. Beside introductory consideration and the conclusion, in this study, the conceptions of 6 authors are analyzed: John Rawls, Ronald Dworkin, Robert Nozick, MichaelWalzer, Michael Sandel and Alasdair MacIntyre. Furthermore, the study deals with problems closely related to the main topic, such as the problem of ethical neutrality and perfectionism, the problem of democratic legitimacy and liberal constitutionalism, the problem of individual freedom and communal obligations, the relation between the society and political community, and also the place and the function of the particular communities within the state. One of the main conclusions of this study is that there is the difference in points of view about the value of political community, that is, about the possibility and legitimacy of this community in society, within one theoretical model. It can be noticed that the conclusions of Rawls’s understandings of legitimacy, “public reason” and its importance within the culture, in certain aspects is more related to Walzer’s communitarian considerations, than to Dworkin’s or Nozick’s liberal conceptions. Also, Dworkin’s ethical position, that is, the relation between ethics, morality, and politics differs from the strict liberal neutrality and is related to Sandel’s republican communitarianism. Finally, the negation of explanation of political community which we find at Nozick, is significantly similar to the criticism of explanation given by MacIntyre. Therefore, the final chapter of the study resumes the crucial aspects of the discussion of liberalism and communitarianism, that is, modified and more complex view of political community which has been provided by this discussion.