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Single Idea 22814

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

Full Idea

We must all be nurtures by others as children, and we only flourish as adults in relationship with friends, mates, children and so on. But this has nothing to do with any obligation to belong to political society.

Gist of Idea

Our reliance on other people close to us does not imply any political obligations

Source

Charles Taylor (Atomism [1979], p.42)

Book Ref

'Communitarianism and Individualism', ed/tr. Avineri,S. /de-Shalit,A. [OUP 1992], p.42

A Reaction

He is defending community, but not at that minimal human level. Political obligations follows from our need for a wider society, to achieve justice, education, travel, health etc. There are no rights without a society

The 13 ideas with the same theme [reasons against over-emphasis of community]:

22091 Kierkegaard prioritises the inward individual, rather than community [Kierkegaard, by Carlisle]
22814 Our reliance on other people close to us does not imply any political obligations [Taylor,C]
23420 In a pluralist society we can't expect a community united around one conception of the good [Rawls]
23413 Feminism has shown that social roles are far from fixed (as communitarians tend to see them) [Kymlicka]
23419 Communitarianism struggles with excluded marginalised groups [Kymlicka]
23415 Participation aids the quest for the good life, but why should that be a state activity? [Kymlicka]
18657 Communitarian states only encourage fairly orthodox ideas of the good life [Kymlicka]
22807 If our values are given to us by society then we have no grounds to criticise them [Avineri/De-Shalit]
22265 I can't defend the view that the majority values of a community are thereby right [Sandel]
20557 Membership and inclusion in a community implies non-membership and exclusion [Swift]
20555 Liberals are concerned to protect individuals from too much community [Swift]
22842 For communitarians it seems that you must accept the culture you are born into [Charvet]
23536 Community is now a nostalgic memory, which no longer exists [Berardi]