Morality and the Nature of Politics

The aim of the paper is to reconstruct and analyze Alvydas Jokubaitis’s understanding of politics. It is argued that Jokubaitis couples politics with morality in opposition to the liberal project of the autonomy of politics, which seeks to separate these two fields of human activity. According to Jo...

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Main Author: Simas Čelutka
Format: Article
Language:Lithuanian
Published: Vilnius University Press 2019-11-01
Series:Politologija
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.journals.vu.lt/politologija/article/view/15109
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author Simas Čelutka
author_facet Simas Čelutka
author_sort Simas Čelutka
collection DOAJ
description The aim of the paper is to reconstruct and analyze Alvydas Jokubaitis’s understanding of politics. It is argued that Jokubaitis couples politics with morality in opposition to the liberal project of the autonomy of politics, which seeks to separate these two fields of human activity. According to Jokubaitis, politics is a realm of realization of the spiritual side of human nature. That is the reason why, through morality, he also tries to align politics with other domains of human spirituality, such as religion and metaphysics. What is common to politics, morality, religion, and metaphysics is the sphere of normativity, i.e., that of purposes, principles, and imperatives. At the same time, Jokubaitis attacks those schools of modern thought which interpret politics as corresponding solely to the physical, animal side of human nature. In this regard, positivism and scientism are singled out as the crudest attempts to misconstrue the nature of politics. The paper is based on a conviction that the acknowledgement of the importance of morality allows one to piece together Jokubaitis’s various considerations about the nature and distinctiveness of politics into a coherent whole.
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spelling doaj.art-fc768757c72e4c8098b57e0336edb11b2022-12-21T22:51:09ZlitVilnius University PressPolitologija1392-16812424-60342019-11-0196410.15388/Polit.2019.96.2Morality and the Nature of PoliticsSimas Čelutka0Vilnius University, LithuaniaThe aim of the paper is to reconstruct and analyze Alvydas Jokubaitis’s understanding of politics. It is argued that Jokubaitis couples politics with morality in opposition to the liberal project of the autonomy of politics, which seeks to separate these two fields of human activity. According to Jokubaitis, politics is a realm of realization of the spiritual side of human nature. That is the reason why, through morality, he also tries to align politics with other domains of human spirituality, such as religion and metaphysics. What is common to politics, morality, religion, and metaphysics is the sphere of normativity, i.e., that of purposes, principles, and imperatives. At the same time, Jokubaitis attacks those schools of modern thought which interpret politics as corresponding solely to the physical, animal side of human nature. In this regard, positivism and scientism are singled out as the crudest attempts to misconstrue the nature of politics. The paper is based on a conviction that the acknowledgement of the importance of morality allows one to piece together Jokubaitis’s various considerations about the nature and distinctiveness of politics into a coherent whole.http://www.journals.vu.lt/politologija/article/view/15109politicsmoralityautonomy of politicsJokubaitisSchmitt
spellingShingle Simas Čelutka
Morality and the Nature of Politics
Politologija
politics
morality
autonomy of politics
Jokubaitis
Schmitt
title Morality and the Nature of Politics
title_full Morality and the Nature of Politics
title_fullStr Morality and the Nature of Politics
title_full_unstemmed Morality and the Nature of Politics
title_short Morality and the Nature of Politics
title_sort morality and the nature of politics
topic politics
morality
autonomy of politics
Jokubaitis
Schmitt
url http://www.journals.vu.lt/politologija/article/view/15109
work_keys_str_mv AT simascelutka moralityandthenatureofpolitics