Utopie und Lebenszeit in der Aufklärung

Daphnis ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 655-681
Author(s):  
Oliver Bach
Keyword(s):  
Common Sense ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
Main Task ◽  
General Will ◽  
Utopian Literature ◽  
Substantial Problem ◽  
The Common ◽  
Existential Dimension

Abstract The aim of this article is to outline how Hans Blumenberg’s conception of lifetime and world time (Lebenszeit und Weltzeit, 1986) can help to elucidate a substantial problem of utopian literature and its development from the 16th to the 18th century: utopias always try to illustrate the ways by which the single members of a political community harmonise with the community as a whole. The congruence of private good and common good, private interest and common interest, private will and general will is a main task of 17th and 18th century political philosophy. Blumenberg’s book, however, allows us to focus on the existential dimension of this harmonisation: under which circumstances may the single members become so wise and virtuous within their lifetimes that they always know about and comply with the common good? 18th century utopias seem to find answers to this question in theories of moral sense, common sense and aesthetic education.

scholarly journals Rousseau’s General Will

Poliarchia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 59-92
Author(s):  
Giovanni Caporioni
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
Alternative Conception ◽  
Political Community ◽  
External Influence ◽  
The European Union ◽  
General Will ◽  
Careful Scrutiny ◽  
The Social ◽  
Economic Austerity ◽  
The Common

The advance of populist parties in the European Union can be interpreted as the sign of an expanding “frustration” about representation in a political sphere oppressed by economic austerity. In this context, the modern philosophical roots of an alternative conception of democracy, based on direct participation, appear to be worth of a careful scrutiny. This paper focuses on the notion of the General Will as described in The Social Contract. After a critical review of the antithetical conceptions of the General Will suggested by Rousseau, a coherent interpretation is proposed, obtained through an analysis of the text taken as a “self- -sufficient” unity: the General Will is pure “ambition” for an unknown common good, shared by all the members of a political community. However, it is argued that the participatory “machinery” of General Will is fundamentally incapable of resolving three serious problems that undermine the foundations of Rousseau’s ideal “République”, namely, 1. How the citizens can identify the common good without errors; 2. How the citizens can develop an ethical dimension by themselves, without any external influence; 3. How single individuals, seen not as active citizens but as passive subjects of the State, can protect themselves from the abuses of power.

General will

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter P. Nicholson
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Political Community ◽  
General Interest ◽  
General Will ◽  
The Public ◽  
Private Interests ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Individual

The fundamental claim for general will is that the members of a political community, as members, share a public or general interest or good which is for the benefit of them all and which should be put before private interests. When the members put the general good first, they are willing the general will of their community. The claim was given special and influential shape by Rousseau. He produced a comprehensive theory of the legitimacy of the state and of government, revolving around the general will. Some contend this solves the central problem of political philosophy – how the individual can both be obliged to obey the state’s laws, and be free. If laws are made by the general will, aimed at the common good and expressed by all the citizens, the laws must be in accordance with the public interest and therefore in the interest of each, and each is obliged by the law yet free because they are its author. Rousseau’s formulation has been much criticized. But others have found it essentially true and have variously adapted it.

Radical democracy

2019 ◽  
pp. 115-130
Author(s):  
Paul Spicker
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Civic Virtue ◽  
Radical Democracy ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Active Citizenship ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
Civic Republicanism ◽  
Good Citizenship ◽  
The Common

The model of civic republicanism is associated with a range of principles: a concept of the common good, citizenship, a presumption of civic virtue and freedom. The idea of radical democracy is strongly associated with a sense of active citizenship, engagement in a political community and collective action. At times, however, it tips into populism, which claims to pit a virtuous people against a corrupt elite, but risks bringing radical democracy into disrepute.

Rousseau's General Will: A Condorcetian Perspective

1988 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 567-576 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Grofman ◽  
Scott L. Feld
Keyword(s):  
Common Good ◽  
General Will ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The People ◽  
Collective Judgment ◽  
Jury Theorem ◽  
The Common

We identify three basic elements of Rousseau's theory of the general will: (1) there is a common good; (2) citizens are not always accurate in their judgments about what is in the common good; and (3) when citizens strive to identify the common good and vote in accordance with their perceptions of it, the vote of the Assembly of the People can be taken to be the most reliable means for ascertaining the common good. We then show that Condorcet's (1785) model of collective judgment shares these assumptions with Rousseau and that understanding the implications of Condorcet's (1785) “jury theorem” enables us to clarify many of the most obscure aspects of Rousseau's treatment of the general will, including his discussion of the debilitating effects of factions and his confidence in the ability of the Assembly of the People to discern the general will by means of voting.

Common Sense for the Common Good

2018 ◽  
Vol 142 (1) ◽  
pp. 286-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Del Vecchio
Keyword(s):  
Common Sense ◽  
Common Good ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Common

scholarly journals Zarządzanie mediami społecznościowymi w kontekście realizacji projektów społecznych skierowanych przeciw mowie nienawiści na przykładzie projektu Grażyna Żarko. Katolicki głos w Internecie

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Anna Lusińska
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Common Interest ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Media Content Analysis ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
The Common ◽  
Research Questions

Social media management in the context of social projects against hate speech on the example of the project Grażyna Żarko. Catholic voice on the Internet Argument/objective: In view of the growing negative phenomenon of hate speech in the social media, targeted informational and educational activities in the public sphere seem important and necessary, for the common good and in the common interest, as a reminder of respect for the other person and respect for his or her rights. The aim of the article is to identify and analyse the selected project in terms of the occurrence, spread and scale of the hate speech phenomenon in social media and to try to evaluate this type of communication. Research methods, research questions: The text uses methods such as case study, desk research and media content analysis. The following research questions were posed: how does the broadly understood civil society, and in principle its representatives, try to oppose hate speech? For what purpose are social projects against hate speech created and implemented? Do social projects against hate speech show the scale of this phenomenon, its horror and immorality? What image of Poles, including Polish Internet users (and in the case of a selected YouTube project) emerges from them? and how do they exchange views on the subject and what conclusions do they draw from this? Results and conclusions: Research has shown that when modern society, which is largely civic, starts to rebel against injustice, lack of respect for others, or socially unacceptable behaviour, including hate speech, it reaches for tools of opposition, among others. Projects such as these are born in this way: Incubator of Ideas, #StopMowieNienawiści, or the title one, analysed: Grażyna Żarko. Catholic Voice on the Internet. This non-commercial, over two months long project, and at the same time a media, Internet provocation carried out in the form of a Polish vlog, showed not only the enormous scale of the problem of “verbal violence”of Polish Internet users on the example of YouTube, but also the lack of preventive actions and responsibility, or rather criminal consequences, for example, incurred for this type of conduct. Cognitive value: The article is part of the discussion on the way and quality of communication of Polish society, with particular emphasis on hate speech, through new media.

Is architecture relevant for political theory?

2021 ◽  
pp. 147488512110636
Author(s):  
Bart van Leeuwen
Keyword(s):  
Built Environment ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Urban Design ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Political Community ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Common ◽  
Build Environment

Is architecture relevant for political theory? That is the key question that structures this excellent collection Political Theory and Architecture, although a number of essays fit a broader formulated theme better, namely, concerning the political relevance of the organization and design of our built environment more generally, including architecture but also spatial planning and urban design. The collection demonstrates that our build environment is not merely a passive backdrop to a political community, but actively shapes aspects of our common political life. This constitutive nature of our built environment figures in many different guises throughout this volume. In this review article, I discuss some of these and conclude that concerns about the ‘common good’ and hence about the discipline of political theory should take reflections on urban design, planning, and architecture into account.

New Natural Law Theory and the Common Good of the Political Community

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 293-303
Author(s):  
Daniel Mark ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Law ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Group Membership ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Human Flourishing ◽  
The Common Good ◽  
The Family ◽  
Natural Law Theory ◽  
The Common

Some critics question new natural law theorists’ conception of the common good of the political community, namely, their interpretation of St. Thomas Aquinas and the conclusion that the political common good is primarily instrumental rather than intrinsic and transcendent. Contrary to these objections, the common good of the political community is primarily instrumental. It aims chiefly at securing the conditions for human flourishing. Its unique ability to use the law to bring about justice and peace and promote virtue in individuals may make the common good of the political community critically important. Nevertheless, it is still not an intrinsic aspect of human flourishing. Unlike the family or a religious group, membership in a political community is not an end in itself.

scholarly journals Corruption, Marginality and Social Disorder as Threats to National and Human Security in Nigeria

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Philip Ogochukwu Ujomu
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Human Security ◽  
Political Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Disorder ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Common

This essay focuses on the issue of corruption, marginality and the social disorder attending it, as threats to national and human security in Nigeria. It not only examines the problems of corruption in Nigeria and the implications of this for national security, but also, discusses the role of an ethical idea of citizenship in tackling corruption and reinventing the political community. In Nigeria, corruption has played a key role in aggravating the political and economic crisis besetting the country. Depreciation of human dignity and collapse of infrastructures have ensured the systematic elite misappropriation of state power, the primitive accumulation of capital, ethno-cultural intolerance and political manipulation in the society. This paper searches for a set of norms capable of mitigating needless dehumanization and inequalities, and improving welfare of the majority by evolving public citizens oriented to the common good.

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