Lecture 5: community Flashcards
(16 cards)
Sandel’s Communitarian Critique of Liberalism
Core Idea: Sandel argues that the right should be grounded in the good.
Key Quote: “Rights depend for their justification on the moral importance of the ends they serve” (Sandel 1982: xi).
Political Critique:
American politics shifted from a national republic (focused on shared purposes) to a procedural republic (focused on fair procedures).
This shift privileged negative liberty (freedom from interference) over positive liberty (active participation in democracy).
Result: Power moved away from democratic institutions (like legislatures) to less accountable bodies (like the judiciary and bureaucracy), weakening democracy.
Sandel’s Critique of Rawls’ “Unencumbered Self”
Rawls’ idea of detaching from personal identity to achieve impartial justice is flawed.
Key Points:
Distance from Self: Over-detachment risks losing what defines us.
Loss of Identity: Without connection to values, authentic choice is impossible.
Interdependence: We are shaped by our relationships.
Community First: Identity emerges from social ties, not isolation.
Definition of Communitarianism:
Hard to define, but focuses on two key spheres:
1. Methodological Sphere:
Challenges individualism.
Argues individuals can only be understood in their social, cultural, and historical contexts.
2. Normative Sphere:
Criticizes individualism for producing morally unsatisfactory outcomes.
Highlights issues like:
Lack of genuine community.
Neglect of important moral ideas that should be supported or rejected by the state.
Communitarianism and Politics
Communitarians (like republicans) aim to expand the circle of politics, emphasizing community involvement and shared values.
Liberalism, in contrast, provides individuals with a space away from politics, focusing more on personal freedom and rights.
Dedication to the Social Good (Charles Taylor):
Without a shared sense of the common good, people may lose commitment to society.
This undermines willingness to redistribute wealth, weakening liberal justice.
Result: Liberal democracies face a ‘legitimation crisis’ — citizens sacrifice more for justice yet feel less connected to those they support.
Social Glue – Three Approaches to Unity (Kymlicka):
Communitarian: Emphasizes a common way of life.
Liberal nationalist: Focuses on common nationhood.
Civic republican: Prioritizes political participation.
David Miller’s Concept of Liberal Nationalism (1995):
Social Unity & Nationhood: Citizens should share more than just liberal principles but less than a full conception of the good life.
Thin National Identity: Liberal states encourage a sense of shared nationhood to foster solidarity and mutual obligations.
Goal: Strengthening national identity enhances citizens’ willingness to make sacrifices for each other and fulfill justice obligations without promoting a specific good life.
Communitarian Objection to liberalism: selfishness
Liberals assume people are selfish: Morality requires acting beyond egoism and recognizing others’ claims on us.
Individualism is not egoism: Liberalism emphasizes individual well-being and autonomy, but it does not support selfishness.
Liberals argue that respecting all individuals as autonomous requires a system of rules that constrain egoism and ensure respect for everyone.
Communitarian Objection to liberalism: advocation for minimal state
Liberals advocate a minimal state: Communitarians argue that liberals want a state with limited involvement.
State’s role depends on interpretation: Liberals agree the state should protect and promote individual freedom, but they differ on what that entails.
Different strands of liberalism lead to varied views on the state’s role, including the extent of redistribution, with no inherent commitment to a minimal state.
Communitarian Objection to liberalism: Liberals prioritize rights over duties or responsibilities
Liberals prioritize rights over duties or responsibilities: Communitarians argue that liberals focus too much on individual rights, neglecting responsibilities to others.
Liberals do care about duties:
Rights imply duties: When someone claims a right, it simultaneously creates a duty for others to respect that right.
Rights and duties are inseparable: More rights lead to more duties owed to others, and these duties are owed to individuals, not the community.
Communitarian Objection to liberalism: Liberals believe values are subjective:
Liberals believe values are subjective: Communitarians argue that liberals view values like justice as individual and subjective, rather than objective and communal.
Liberals think some values are objective (notably justice):
Objective values: Liberals maintain that justice is an objective value, not merely subjective, and that it serves as a fundamental guiding principle for society.
Communitarian Objection to liberalism: Liberals neglect how individuals are socially constituted:
Liberals neglect how individuals are socially constituted: Communitarians argue that liberals overlook the ways in which individuals are shaped by their social environments and communal relationships.
Liberals believe individuals are socially situated, but choice is still central:
While liberals acknowledge that individuals are influenced by social factors (family, media, etc.), they argue that this doesn’t negate the capacity for individual reflection and choice.
Key idea: Social influences don’t make our choices illusory; we still have the agency to reflect and make decisions.
Communitarian Objection to liberalism: Liberals undervalue communal relations, shared values and identity
Liberals undervalue communal relations, shared values, and identity: Communitarians argue that liberals neglect the importance of community, shared values, and collective identities in shaping individuals’ lives.
Liberalism and communal values:
Liberalism focuses on what the state can do for its citizens but allows room for people to engage in communal, cultural, and social activities on their own.
Key idea: Society can still be communitarian, even within a liberal framework.
Justice as a common good:
Liberal justice itself is a shared aim among citizens and can be considered a common good.
Key idea: A liberal state allows individuals to engage in communal activities while ensuring fairness and justice for all, prioritizing identity as citizens over other collective identities.
Communitarian Objection to liberalism: Liberals wrongly think the state should be neutral
Liberals wrongly think the state should be neutral:
Communitarians argue that a neutral state disregards the importance of shaping citizens’ moral values and collective identity. They believe the state should play an active role in promoting shared communal values.
Neutrality is justified by an “overlapping consensus” (Rawls):
Despite disagreements in comprehensive doctrines, members of society agree on core liberal values like freedom and equality.
These values form an “overlapping consensus” where people, despite differing worldviews, share common political principles.
Key idea: Liberal neutrality allows citizens to pursue their own conception of the good, while ensuring everyone is treated equally.
Swift’s Critique of Liberal Neutrality:
1) Some Goods the State Can Promote (Political Liberalism):
Swift believes Rawls allows the state to promote certain goods, like art galleries, museums, or national parks, through democratic decision-making.
Key Point: Political liberalism allows the state to support cultural and social goods, as long as they don’t interfere with constitutional essentials or basic justice.
2) Liberals Can Be Perfectionist (Joseph Raz):
Perfectionism in Liberalism: Swift argues that liberals can also promote valuable lives and discourage worthless ones, through state policies.
For example, the state could subsidize valuable ways of life and discourage harmful ones (e.g., unhealthy lifestyles).
Link to Communitarianism: Perfectionism could bring liberalism closer to communitarianism because both agree on shaping citizens’ well-being and values.
Neutrality, Perfectionism, and the Difference Between Liberalism & Communitarianism
What does neutrality mean in liberalism?
What is perfectionism in the context of liberalism?
How do liberalism and communitarianism differ?
Neutrality in Liberalism: The state should remain neutral between different comprehensive doctrines (values and beliefs). It doesn’t favor any particular conception of the good life, allowing individuals the freedom to pursue their own values. In Rawlsian liberalism, this is based on an “overlapping consensus” where citizens agree on political values (like freedom and equality) despite having different beliefs.
Perfectionism in Liberalism: In contrast to neutrality, perfectionism allows the state to actively encourage citizens to live “valuable” lives and discourage “worthless” ones. It involves state actions like promoting arts, culture, education, and well-being, even shaping citizens’ choices.
Liberalism vs. Communitarianism:
Liberalism is individual-focused, emphasizing freedom, individual rights, and autonomy. It protects personal choice and liberty.
Communitarianism is community-focused, emphasizing the collective and shared social values. It argues that individuals are shaped by their social, cultural, and historical contexts, and the state should promote the common good and community values.
