Hegel and the Ontological Critique of Liberalism

Bibliographic Data

ID3355649
AuthorsAlexander Kaufman (University of Chicago, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume91
Issue4
Pages807-817
Publication date1997-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Political Science Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0003-0554 • E-ISSN: 1537-5943
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/2952165
OpenAlexW2329292785
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited36

Contemporary communitarians argue that a proper consideration of ontological questions of identity and community forecloses deontological liberalism as a viable option, since deontological liberalism cannot ground a sufficiently strong form of immediate identification with the ethical life of the community. Hegel's ethical theory constitutes perhaps the most fully realized account of such identification. Yet, I argue, Hegel's ethics does not require the strong form of immediate identification required by communitarians. My analysis emphasizes the strands in Hegel's account which suggest that a weaker form of identification, reconcilable with deontological liberalism, can plausibly ground a stable form of civil society. In particular, Hegel's notion of patriotic trust is designed to ground both a direct and a reflective relation between individuals and their ethical and political tradition. Hegel's analysis anticipates and offers insights to supplement recent accounts of trust as a form of social capital

Aesthetics · Classical liberalism · Common ground · Epistemology · Hegelianism · Identification (biology · Identity (music · Liberalism · Political science · Politics · Relation (database · Sociology · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Law · Philosophy · Political Philosophy and Ethics · Social Capital and Networks

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