We kindly inform you that, as long as the subject affiliation of our 300.000+ articles is in progress, you might get unsufficient or no results on your third level or second level search. In this case, please broaden your search criteria.
While the Zionist trends in other countries slided to the fore the political, social and economic ideas, Poland enriched contemporary Zionism in category valor. The transformation of the psyche of the Jewish occurred in the revisionist Zionism in Poland in three phases: Vladimir Jabotinsky (years 1923–1936) began her and gave her the basics, Abraham Stern (in 1936–1939) radicalized it, and Menachem Begin made it applicable in the country Israel. Polish Jews with the help of the Polish Government have enriched the psyche of Jewish valor and virtue, thanks to the modern Israel is the greatest military power in the Middle East.The aim of the article is to show one aspect of Zionism – its militancy, which has grown in the revisionist Zionism. An interesting theme is that this feature evolved in Poland and the main ideologists were W. Jabotinsky, A. Stern and M. Begin. The intentions of the Zionists gained the support of the then (1937–1939), the authorities of the Polish government. Article presents personalities government, the facts support and types of aid
More...
The aim of the article is to present the idea of social humanism by Tadeusz Zieliński, an outstanding classical philologist, thinker, creator of the phenomenon called Slavic Renaissance, being a professor at St. Petersburg University (until 1920) and Warsaw University, a doctor h. c. at many high schools in the country as well as abroad. He treated his humanism in different aspects, not just as a category strictly referring to the epoch of Renaissance, but also having alternated through history, in order to search a harmony between the one human being and the society. The proposals and projects that he declared within this context, placed him around the great defenders of the republican anthropocentrism which opposed the doctrinal liberalism.
More...
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The aim of the article is to introduce a metatheoretical framework that allows to discuss contemporary theories of democracy and identify the limitations of democratic innovation. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND SCIENTIFIC METHODS: The main research problem is the identification of the intellectual source of the so called “paradox of democracy” (Ch. Mouffe) related to the inconsistency of the “liberal” (represented by B. Constant) and the “democratic” (Rousseau) approach to values such as freedom and equality. It is suggested that this source is the private public division exposed by T. Hobbes and radicalized in many ways later on. The tool of analysis is the three level model of the political system as described by C. Offe. RESEARCH RESULTS: The analysis leads to the conclusion that contemporary democratic innovations can be placed between the extremes determined by procedural democracy on the one hand and illiberal democracy on the other. That is, however, what puts their innovative character into question. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The main part of the article is historical and philosophical analysis. The limitations of the modern political language in respect to the notion of democracy are presented. CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The article advocates understanding democracy as the limit of the European political experience.
More...
The main idea that accompanies this article is an attempt to organize the relationship between the difference as a result of cultural changes and the identity of the individual understood as a sense of continuity, permanence and integrity, as well as to reflect on the nature and scope of differences what appear in Polish society in the second decade of the 21st century. Therefore, I ask some questions about the main spheres of them, but also about the consequences of analyzed differences for our identity and how do they influence its construction? Source of what kind of experiences are they ? How do differences affect our social participation, self-esteem or decisions made in important spheres of life? Finally, the question of differences is also, and perhaps above all, a question about values and where, in the situation of experiencing and realizing the difference to look for areas of understanding and axiological identification? What family experiences and elements of intergenerational transmission then should be applied? Questions mentioned above are only the frame for considerations undertaken in this article.
More...
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The scientific aim is to present a specific role of John Rawls that he played in co-creation of the concept of deliberative democracy. THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: Deliberative democracy focuses on deliberation that should bring in-depth knowledge of the participants in a given matter as well as the awareness of other individuals’ interests. One must acquire knowledge of the distinction between public reason and many non-public reasons, and at the same time be impartial to the points of view of vast rational doctrines. The research method is based on text analysis. THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The article begins with an attempt to synthetically analyse Rawls’s contractualistic proposition in order to “organise the state well”. Then, there follows an analysis of the concept of justice as impartiality indicating the basis for creating the theory of deliberative democracy. The focus is put on Rawls’s innovative solution – the reflection of balance can only be achieved through the result of a certain structure (construction) and the normative nature of his proposition was indicated, which distinguishes this concept from predecessors asking similar questions. RESEARCH RESULTS: In his attempts to construct a “machine of reason” and a “game of reason”, and finally an “original situation” from which the principles of justice as impartiality can be derived, John Rawls attempted to create a model of a reasonable deliberation by democratic citizens in a way that could awake their loyalty towards the established order.
More...
Review of: A. Sopoćko, Państwo, Wydawnictwo PWE, Warszawa 2022, ss. 156, ISBN 978-83-208-2514-5.
More...
This research aims to highlight the concept of "Amalgamation" that the philosopher Ukshin Hoti treats in his work "Political philosophy of the Albanian national issue" as a principle of proletarian political thought led by Stalin, which aims at the internationalization, whose goal was to establish the principle of the "free will of self-determination of nations" so that they can create their own independent state, remains part of another state or establish federal relations. Certainly, "amalgamation" essentially meant the latter, which would reflect a political expansion of the then USSR. This is based on the creation of a multinational state.In the identical form, and in the same political concept, we believe is the conflict which is taking place today between Russia and Ukraine, where the theory of "amalgamation" has been activated again, giving the right that through the referendum, some parts of Ukraine "expressed themselves freely their will" to create their own state or to become part of another state. In this research, through content analysis, the geopolitical negativities that this political theory brings and the war that is already visible between the East and the West in the context of this research between Europe and the Russian Federation will be analyzed.In this context, through the analysis of the theories of the provenance of the West, or of the state as an international subject, coming to the function of democracy, we will clarify the political positioning of the Albanian nation. Was the Yugoslavian context for Albanians similar to the "amalgamation" of the east, and in this context what would be the vital interests of the nation?
More...
In political thinking of the XVI-XVIII centuries, at least three categories of criticism against Machiavelli can be noted: the minimalist one, specific to those who accept realism, but not all consequences that occur; the moderate criticism of those who, though they consider the foundation of Machiavellian realism wrong, recognize the existence of a certain kind of useful practical wisdom; the radical criticism of those who see the whole Machiavellian approach as flawed and dangerous. Even if these critics are not entirely convincing, their analysis remains useful. We understand better both the way the ethico-political model was defended in the post-renaissance world, as well as some of intellectual sources of modern political rationalism or idealism.
More...
Alexis de Tocqueville analyses in his work Democracy in America (volume I: 1835, volume II: 1840) the crisis in Europe after the French Revolution in relation to a kind of democracy functioning in the United States. He believes that the Revolution was not an arbitrary historical event. It was the necessary outcome of the general continuous effort of social development towards the social equality. As the most important factor that creates the awareness of equality and keeps the successful functioning of democratic republic in the United States Tocquevill considers the specific social behaviour – manners. Original social units or norms of thinking and behaviour emerged from a long-standing development base in the connection of the theory with the practice. Social behaviour and habits are not the only force driving the spontaneous social dynamics which comes from the natural human ability to come and join together. For the democratic principle the natural social dynamics is implicit: the idea of social conditions equality. Furthermore, Tocqueville warns us that democracy can be endangered by democratic despotism. The first Tocqueville’s critical reflection of the democratic society focuses on the problem of urging justice, the second one is connected with the problem of social cohesiveness maintenance, the third one with the tendency of democratic systems to the centralisation of power. The particular moral character of America is kept by religion. Tocqueville is convinced that every egalitarien society, which intends to govern, requires the natural moral discipline anchored in the consciousness of every individual. This conscious submitting of one’s own will to the higher will is not enforced by the fear of punishment. It is the free-will consciousness where freedom meets the „Democratic and Republican“ Christianity of the New World. The priority of irreplaceable role of the religious moral influence in relation to individual and the whole society reminds us of thinking and effort of the Czech philosopher, sociologist, politician and statesman, the first president of the Czechoslovak Republic and successor of Franz Brentano Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk. I should remark that Tocqueville inspired also a significant Czech nobleman, politician and school reformer Lev Thun (1811-1888).
More...
Libertarian politics in pluralistic democracies should be implemented within the constitutional-democratic framework of government, which is based on the constitutional logic of rights and obligations. Without this, libertarian politics cannot fulfill its fundamental political purpose in democratic regimes of government. There are several modalities by which it is possible to produce politics with libertarian elements in contemporary polyarchies, and most often this is achieved through different forms of direct political participation. Citizens can thus expand the milieu of participation in politics, at least when the unhindered use of the instruments of direct democracy or the autonomous gathering and non-violent protest of individuals against the government is ensured, but the key problem is that often different political actors and state power manipulate the practical use of the institute of direct democracy and so deliberately destroy their libertarian potential. Since contemporary government regimes have an emphasized representative, pluralistic, and democratic nature, in political freedom, equal political treatment, and the rights of citizens are normatively ensured by the policy of constitutionalism, while the disadvantages of representative government are tried to be prevented, reduced and eliminated through the supplementary application of different forms of direct democracy or direct political participation. However, it is not always easy to ensure that all individuals and target groups feel protected, satisfied and equal in modern states, primarily due to the contingent nature of polycentric politics.
More...
This paper discusses the problem of “moral prejudice” in a democratic society. Moral prejudice is presented as an integral part of the moral norm that is contained in the “social contract” of every nation, which equally implies both written laws and customs of the people. The new, “liberal” moral system, which advocates freedom as the fulfillment of the maximum of human possibilities, and includes as praiseworthy things that the traditional system rejected, is not devoid of prejudice. On the contrary, it comes with a new “prejudice” according to which all traditional morality should be discarded, with extreme condemnation, as oppressive. New moral norms, which did not exist as such in laws and customs, are often imposed by judicial interpretations of key rights and freedoms of citizens. Very often these judicial interpretations rest on the very antipodes of traditional morality and prevailing popular sentiment, so that they come as a fundamental opposition to the “social contract” based on the consent of the people through past, present and future generations. These efforts to impose a new moral system on everyone, regardless of their will, are essentially paternalistic and violent. The true task of a free society is to create pluralism in which different groups will have their right to their own moral system, and in which a new prejudice will not arise under the guise of a universal measure of good human life, which ignores diversity in human experience and worldviews.
More...
The notion of “freedom” in the age of neoliberalism is under the strong influence of technology and in a great measure it is different from the concept of freedom in the age of liberalism. In neoliberalism man’s freedom is projected and defined within the frameworks that are shaped by technology while in an earlier period man was called to shaping the laws of freedom. We always hear about knowledge being one of the basic human rights, but nobody says that which man should know. It seems to be that what is meant by that are the topics which are spoken of on a daily basis, and which presents the basic preoccupation of some people, and that is the relativization and suppression of moral norms. The sentence “knowledge is the right of all people” has become a catchphrase according to which everyone has the right to do as they will and everybody has the right to usurp the private life and intimacy of every individual. It must be said that pure acquaintance with raw information does not represent knowledge. The piling of information is the greatest enemy of common human sense and reasoning. In case freedom has to be connected to the very spirit of one community, the question is posed; whether a general call for freedom comes out of the spirit and need of that community or whether it is the result of the manipulation of others who have tendentious and wicked intentions. In any case, even though democracy presents the manifestation of collective human gravity and will, it is not possible to implement it everywhere or at the very least not until it comes to certain changes in society. The following question is posed: what is freedom’s treatment of the individual and collective rights like and what bears greater meaning in a free society? The possessing of human qualities is a condition for the establishment of the freedom of thought, however in society and in politics personal and collective interests go hand-in-hand. Is political development the precondition for economic growth or is it in reverse? There are arguments which give advantage to the first and the second claim. However, it is visible that the development of any dimension of society influences the development of other dimensions and there are no special rules there. There are certain preconditions which are necessary for the development of society and they are interconnected. Every country that thinks of development must ponder upon the freedoms and civil rights of its inhabitants. Although the claims that humanity is going to the direction of freedom and peace are not correct it should be said that freedom is the question of human honor and that everybody is obliged to fight for it in his own way.
More...
The principle aim of the article is to describe various concepts of legitimacy and their theoretical framework and to evaluate the possibility of their application in the local political process. The legitimacy of local political institutions can be perceived as one of the conditions of their stability and efficiency in relation to the rural development. The approaches and concepts of legitimacy of Max Weber, Luhmann, Tyler and Zimmerman and Zeitz are compared in the first part of the article. To apply these classifications to local political institutions entails some theoretical and methodological problems, e.g. to distinguish legitimacy relating to communal politician from personal trust, ill-defined indicators of legitimacy, etc. Analysing various examples of legitimizing local magistrates and councils indicates that the communal legitimacy can be highly confused and based upon various sources of legitimation. One of the possible local legitimacy assessment is the concept of the „systemic“ and „sectoral“ legitimacy. Another concept of legitimacy can be derived from case studies of the Czech local political process. This pattern of legitimacy can be mainly detected in a kind of „self-legitimizing“ narration of communal politicians. Using theoretical approaches to the issue of „political narratives“ it is possible to denominate it „narrative legitimacy“.
More...
Zoran Đinđić je i kao teoretičar, kao filozof politike, i kao čovek koji se praktično bavio politikom, bio svestan složenog karaktera moderne društvene zajednice i osnovne podele na građansko, odnosno civilno društvo i državu. Nemam nameru, ni tako velike ambicije, da ovde dam uvid u celinu njegovih stavova o odnosu civilnog društva i države. Fokusiraću se na nekoliko njegovih iskaza, pre svega na jedan njegov predgovor za Kozelekovu knjigu Kritika i kriza, kao i na neke njegove stavove koje je izneo u dijalogu za odnos civilnog društva i države u našoj situaciji. Dakle, Đinđić je prihvatio jedan od ključnih stavova Kozelekove studije, da je građansko društvo upravo srušilo apsolutističku državu. Dakle i Kozelek i Đinđić kada govore o apsolutističkoj državi oni govore u stvari o jednoj paradigmi, jednom idealnom tipu za pojam političkog.
More...
Sartre believed that this burden of responsabilty is often too much for people to bea, and that many people try to avoid it by denying their freedom. On liberty depends on the idea the society progresses from lower to higher stages and that this progress culminates in the emergence of a sistem of representative. They many seek refuge in religion, ideology, or social conformity, seeing themselves as mere instruments or larger system.
More...
The political orientation and participation of esoteric groups and move- ments remain under-researched and restricted by many stereotypes. There is an oversimplifying tendency to classify all esoteric groups as extreme right-wing and proto-fascist or, by contrast, as counter-cultur- al, left-wing, anti-authoritarian, and progressive. An equally persistent stereotype, often expressed by insiders, is that esotericism is beyond politics, immersed in thinking only about eternal or spiritual issues. In this paper, analysing the practices and discourses of Russian esoteri- cists of the first decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union, we will show that the forms of interaction between the esoteric and political spheres are much more complex and ambiguous. What were esoteric groups like in the times of political cataclysms, namely dur- ing the Soviet collapse and subsequent turbulences of the 1990s? Which political participation and exclusion forms were practised inside Russian esoteric commu- nities? Analysing the 1990s esoteric biweekly newspaper Anomaly, published in St Petersburg (1990–2019), we have identified two types of esoteric civic activity, which we call esoteric citizenship (actions and political statements performed by esotericists) and metaphysical politics (esoteric forms of political participation, such as predictions, divination, channelling, and utopian projection). We consider these concepts helpful in describing different variants of esoteric civic participa- tion while being aware that the boundaries between both are rather flexible.
More...
Author develops a critical review of the three dominant perspectives in Political Theory: Behaviorist, Empirical-Analitical, Classic and Contemporary Normative Theories, and Dialectical-Critical perspectives. Under the influence of scientific positivism and its critique of metaphysics, especially in the Anglophone world, the Behaviorist political theory has been developed. Its origin lies in the idea of ‘pure political science’ which, as author argues, becomes gradually, a metaphysical perspective of its own kind. Based on criticism of Behaviorist political theory, especially under the influence of Leo Strauss a new, contemporary political theory has been developed by rehabilitation of the classical perspective. For Strauss, as well as for example, for Aristotle, poltical knowledge is tightly connected to ethical action, and the political discourse is always at the same time the ‘ethical-political’. This theoretical perspective is, author suggests, an attempt to reflect upon the very foundations of political community, so in this way it is at the same time a particular ontology, which is the main point of criticism comming from a positivist block. The dialectical – critical political theories have their source, above all, in Hegel’s philosophy, and, especially after Marx and Engels, the task of political theory is understood in a rather ‘activist’ sense as investigation of political systems, institutions and revealing of relations that establish the rule of the privileged. With Critical School of 1930’s this political-theoretical approach attempts to maintain historical perspectives of understanding the society and state and their complex processes. Second important characteristics of this approach is the conception of totality, also coming from Hegel, for who the truth is always a matter of the whole, and not in some particular part. Another important feature is dialectical attitude, in fact, identification of contradictions and their conflict as mover of social and political processes. In the conclusion part, author refers to the idea of a ‘democratic political philosophy’ developed by John Rawls, as possible synthesis of dominant perspectives in political theory.
More...
The article presents the complex and multifaceted history of power as a political phenomenon and humanism as a system of moral values with an emphasis on their humanitarian sense i.e. on the mechanisms regulating interpersonal relations. Both power and the area of universal humanism are phenomena that are very strongly dependent on time and the conditions that time shapes and imposes on reality, both in the area of human social behavior and economic conditions in which successive generations and various cultural formations of specific societies exist. Human history quite clearly shows the dominance of power over elements of culture. Nature of power, which may manifest itself in the form of “service” or in the form of “dominion” is the factor which de- termine the quality of social life and shape the quality of human culture. The distinction between these two forms of power goes back to the religious sources of the books of the New Testament and to the oldest documents of Greek philosophy – Aristotle and the Stoics. The practice of ancient and medieval, power led to the permanent formation of power as a tool of domina- tion. This was most clearly manifested in the concepts of Machiavellianism at the beginning of the 16th century. Moreover this article illustrates historical examples of “servant” and “reigning” rulers. Unfortunately, the dominance of one type is overwhelming. At the same time in the narrative of universal history one can notice the exceptional treatment of all powers, regardless of their documented guilt and cruelty. Leniency towards the ruling power is astonishing, considering the continuity of cruelty and crimes that burden the authorities from antiquity to the present day. The 20th century leaves no illusions that in the conflict between the values of humanism and its main value – human dignity the undisputed winner is “authority”.
More...
This article aims to identify and analyse images of the enemy in contemporary Russian ideology. The active development of re-ideologisation in Russia makes this topic of particular interest. Historical-genetic and imagological approaches and elements of critical discourse analysis are used to solve this problem. The paper provides a general description of the emergence of traditionalism in post-Soviet Russia. It identifies Soviet, Orthodox, and imperial rhetoric used to create the image of the enemy. The study reveals the syncretic nature of contemporary Russian traditionalism and points to the totalitarian nature of its political language.
More...