proteanmix
Plumage and Moult
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- Apr 23, 2007
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This is Part 1 of a two part thread based on what this dude says the modern idea of self is.
I just recently began to look at communitarianism so I'm not sure what it's about. I'm curious to hear people's opinions.
Communitarianism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
What do people think? What's right about this philosophy? What's wrong about it?
The major criticism I've found is that it "mischaracterizes liberalism, attributing to it rigid theoretical dichotomies and implausible assumptions about moral psychology and social life to which liberals were not committed either by intent or by implication; and second, that many of the practical reforms that communitarians endorsed were viable and indeed desirable within a liberal framework."
And to provide balance, here is the the Anti Communitarian Manifesto.
I just recently began to look at communitarianism so I'm not sure what it's about. I'm curious to hear people's opinions.
Communitarianism emerged in the 1980s as a response to the limits of liberal theory and practice. Its dominant themes are that individual rights need to be balanced with social responsibilities, and that autonomous selves do not exist in isolation, but are shaped by the values and culture of communities. Unless we begin to redress the balance toward the pole of community, communitarians believe, our society will continue to become normless, self-centered, and driven by special interests and power seeking.
Communitarians argue that the one-sided emphasis on rights in liberalism is related to its conception of the individual as a "disembodied self," uprooted from cultural meanings, community attachments, and the life stories that constitute the full identities of real human beings. Dominant liberal theories of justice, as well as much of economic and political theory, presume such a self. And our "habits of the heart" deeply draw upon this, even in many cases where we behave as committed community activists.
Source
Communitarianism springs from the recognition that the human being is by nature a social animal as well as an individual with a desire for autonomy. Communitarians recognize that a healthy society must have a correct balance between individual autonomy and social cohesion. Much recent thinking has focused on an assumed conflict between the rights of the individual and the responsibilities of the government. When you put "community" back into the equation, you find that the apparent conflict between the individual and the government can be resolved by public policies that are consistent with core American values and work to the benefit of all members of our society.Source
Communitarianism (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
What do people think? What's right about this philosophy? What's wrong about it?
The major criticism I've found is that it "mischaracterizes liberalism, attributing to it rigid theoretical dichotomies and implausible assumptions about moral psychology and social life to which liberals were not committed either by intent or by implication; and second, that many of the practical reforms that communitarians endorsed were viable and indeed desirable within a liberal framework."
And to provide balance, here is the the Anti Communitarian Manifesto.