Original scientific paper
IS THE STATE – ACCORDING TO ITS ULTIMATE DEFINITION – A THING OF THE PAST?
Zvonko Posavec
; Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The author claims that in Hegel’s Philosophy of Law there are two convergent, overlapping and concurrent tendencies. The first asserts that the state is such a condition of society in which the universal will of citizens is paramount. It is the sole source of positive law, since only the state warrants the laws which do not do injustice to its subjects. In this theory, the state is considered an ideal universal entity, adjusted to the speculative shifts of auto-reflection. The second claims that as the rational state, the state is a union of different interests, providing good life for its citizens. The principle of their union is a particular benefit; not self-determination as the absolute principle but mutual compromise, mutual achievement and relatively equal contribution that creates interdependence. These two tendencies have entirely defined the understanding of the state in the German cultural space: at one time it is an ideal association among reflective individuals, and at other an apparatus of power. These two abstract solutions may only be overcome via a forceful democratic mediation of the civil society.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
26844
URI
Publication date:
15.2.2001.
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