Community for Justice A Communitarian Critique of Traditional Liberal Theory

Communitarians cannot accept liberal theory. It fails to pay mind to the essence of what makes human beings function as social creatures. And while it continues to stray from its beginnings it can no longer satisfy what is necessary for an acceptable political theory. Communitarians view this distance from the original theory their main objection to liberal theory. Instead an ideal communitarian theory would involve “a more contextual and community-sensitive approach” (209).

The classical liberal theory is considered by many to be highly ahistorical, this point of view is held especially by those considered communitarians. The criticism extends further by explaining the theory as being ‘universalist’. Ignoring necessary communal living conditions in order to create a well-rounded theory that lends itself easily becomes counterproductive, as the theory loses its power when it is related to genuine nations or societies. Traditional liberalist theory’s roots originate from the French revolution, a movement whose goals included community, in partnership with liberty, justice, and equality (Kymlica 2002, 208). However ideal the theory’s origins, the progression to today’s liberal theory has left the concept of community ignored. This would be unacceptable to original liberals, as modern liberalism compensates by using liberty and justice as placeholders and vetoing the importance of the community, society and the family. This oversight is a recent product of liberalism developing only after World War II; theories viewed as evil, such as fascism and Marxist communism, used the community as a tool for controlling the masses, the theory fell out of favour. As community became removed from the liberal theory historically, literature refl...

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...the military, gay, Christian and the greater community. This would not be permitted under the communitarian view of justice. In conclusion, allowing the desire of one person to determine the direction of a community is not the ideal that was set by the French revolutionaries, it is instead what they were fighting against. A communal view of justice can provide an additional perspective to provide strength in the goals of a people. When looking for an acceptable political theory to live by, liberal theory with the addition of a communitarian view of liberty, rather than the traditional individualistic view, contains many of the desirable portions of a complete and satisfactory theory.

Works Cited

Kymlicka, Will. "Marxism & Communitarism." In Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction, 173, 208-215. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.