Synthesis philosophica, Vol. 27 No. 2, 2012.
Original scientific paper
Two Recurrences of an Idea: On Political and Ethical Vicissitudes of Democracy. Towards a Politics of Nonviolence
Lenart Škof
orcid.org/0000-0003-2199-3550
; University of Primorska, Faculty of Humanities, Koper, Slovenia
Abstract
In this paper we discuss two different criticisms of liberal democracy. By analyzing the contemporary Slovenian (radical) political thought of Žižek and some of his followers, which recently are revitalizing the “idea of Communism”, we first critically reflect upon the emancipatory potential of this strand of contemporary Slovenian philosophy. The interlude focuses on the uses and logic of violence and pleads for a new politico-ethical culture of nonviolence. In the second part of the paper, by approaching Levinas’ ethical criticism of the liberal democracy and by focusing on his concept of a different temporality within political ethics, we discuss some alternative possibilities for the future progress of democracy.
Keywords
idea of democracy; idea of communism; Slavoj Žižek; Emmanuel Levinas; emancipatory politics; political ethics; freedom; nonviolence
Hrčak ID:
101716
URI
Publication date:
19.2.2013.
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