Conclusion

These remarks reiterate the view articulated in the book that the rise of modern democracy signifies more than just the expansion of the number of rulers, but rather a basic “paradigm shift” involving multiple dimensions of life and thought (comprising political, metaphysical, and even theological dimensions). By comparison, the remarks stress a more holistic breakthrough: the emergence of a new spirituality coupled with the deepening of a lateral or horizontal humanism under the aegis of a relational democracy. The constitutive elements of democracy—whose relationship has to be continuously renegotiated—are mainly three: the people as a whole (potentia) , the political rulers or agents (potestas) , and the goal or basic orientation of the community ( telos, bonum commune). In our time, democratic rule has to be promoted not only domestically, but globally (without violence) to avoid the autocratic domination of some societies or people by others.

Autocracy · Democracy · Epistemology · Humanism · Metaphysics · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Telos · Theology · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics