Synthesis philosophica, Vol. 25 No. 1, 2010.
Original scientific paper
European Public and Creation of European Identity. A Social-Philosophical Perspective
Klaus Thomalla
; Bochum, Germany
Abstract
The question if Europe brings itself to build a political identity or remains with being a community of second order will determine the following way of the European integration. The condition of the political identity sure enough is a European public, so that the citizens are able to accept the decisions of the European political system by participating in the relevant discussions. Three concepts of public shall serve to understand the European public as interrelation of community, basing on networks. The supplementation of the “public sphere” by the “public discourse” reflects the effort to transcend the national ideas: We are not speaking of one European public, but it is designed as network of partial national publics, arising from events which have certain importance for Europe. That way, a European identity can be generated by focusing the political interest of citizens on themes of collective significance.
Keywords
European public; European integration; European identity; public sphere; public discourse; network
Hrčak ID:
58436
URI
Publication date:
2.8.2010.
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