Original scientific paper
The Person And Society: On The Reality In Bosnia And Herzegovina From The Perspective Of The Social Philosophy Of Jacques Maritain
Zdenko Spajić
orcid.org/0000-0001-7194-8374
; University of Sarajevo - Catholic Theological Faculty, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Abstract
Society in Bosnia and Herzegovina has for almost two decades been dominated
by a crisis that may be rooted in a moral crisis. In this article we do not discuss
the most topical elements of the crisis, but concentrate instead on politics, because
the political crisis in society is not just a consequence of unresolved issues regarding
relations among different communities; the political reality itself is causing the crisis.
Part of the problem is the way politics is viewed, in terms of state, national community
and citizenship. For this reason, a healthy political philosophy can play an important role in the search for a solution to the crisis in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This article
has two parts. In the first part we argue that society in Bosnia and Herzegovina has
been “handicapped” by its historical development, because it did not fully experience,
as most other European states did, the process of building national identity and a modern
state, and the transformation from feudal to modern civic society. As a result, we
can see a parallel system in which elements of feudal thinking are side-by-side with the
forced imposition of the Dayton system. In the second part of the article, we reconsider
some basic elements from the field of political philosophy, based on the philosophy of
Jacques Maritain. Having in mind the reality in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the author
analyses the distinction between community and society. Based on this distinction, the
author defines the concept of national community, people and political society, and
concludes with a comparison between the concepts of homeland and state.
Keywords
Bosnia and Herzegovina; Jacques Maritain; community; society; nation; people; homeland; state; social philosophy; political philosophy.
Hrčak ID:
266933
URI
Publication date:
1.6.2016.
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