Communitarianism Revisited
Journal of Political Ideologies, 2014, Vol. 19, No. 3, 241-260
Posted: 3 Jan 2015
Date Written: 2014
Abstract
This article provides a retrospective account and analysis of communitarianism. Drawing upon the author’s involvement with the political branch of communitarianism, it attempts to summarize both the history of the school of thought as well as its most prominent ideas. These include the communitarian emphasis on the common good; the effort to find an acceptable balance between individual rights and social responsibilities; the basis of social order; and the need to engage in substantive moral dialogues. The article closes with a discussion of cultural relativism according to which communities ought to be the ultimate arbitrators of the good and a universalistic position.
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