Single Idea 18657

[catalogued under 24. Political Theory / D. Ideologies / 7. Communitarianism / b. Against communitarianism]

Full Idea

A communitarian state can and should encourage people to adopt conceptions of the good that conform to the community's way of life, while discouraging conceptions of the good that conflict with it.

Gist of Idea

Communitarian states only encourage fairly orthodox ideas of the good life

Source

Will Kymlicka (Contemporary Political Philosophy (1st edn) [1990], 6.2)

Book Reference

Kymlicka,Will: 'Contemporary Political Philosophy (1st edn)' [OUP 1992], p.206


A Reaction

This is the conservative aspect of communitarianism which many people (notably liberals) find uncongenial. This conservatism is implicit in Aristotle's account of virtue. I have become more conservative to accommodate it.