English
Język Polski
The concept of democracy and its relationship to Christianity as seen by Henri Bergson, Jacques Maritain and Robert Schuman
Anna
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4430-2591Anna Krzynówek-Arndt
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5293-6829Abstract
RESEARCH OBJECTIVE: The aim of this article is to compare the ways in which Henri Bergson and Jacques Maritain conceptualize democracy and its relationship with Christianity, in the context of Robert Schuman’s concept of generalized democracy.
THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND METHODS: Through analysis and interpretation of Bergson’s and Maritain’s writings, in which the notions of “true democracy” (Bergson) and “personalist democracy” (Maritain) are formulated, the article also reveals how these concepts are embedded within their broader philosophical systems.
THE PROCESS OF ARGUMENTATION: The argument proceeds from an outline of Schuman’s concept of “generalized democracy,” followed by an analysis of the connection between democracy and its Christian inspiration in the thought of Bergson and Maritain, considered in light of their comprehensive views on human nature, morality, and religion. The article concludes by posing a question about the feasibility and limits of translating these democratic visions into social and institutional practice.
RESEARCH RESULTS: The concepts of democracy in the thought of Bergson, Maritain, and Schuman are in harmony insofar as they assert that democracy, in the true sense of the term, emerged only under the influence of the Gospel as proclaimed by Christianity. They also share a republican understanding of the essence of such democracy. However, these conceptions differ significantly on a philosophical level: Bergson’s immanent, panvitalist evolutionism and Maritain’s transcendentally open ontological realism inspired by Thomism and derived from it Christian personalism, delineate fundamentally different horizons of human existence and sociability.
CONCLUSIONS, INNOVATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS: Although deeper philosophical divergences lead to differing accounts of democratic institutions and ideals, the political visions of Bergson and Maritain converge in their republican appreciation of the of civic friendship and politeness of the mind.
Keywords
Christian inspirations of democracy ; true and false democracy ; static and dynamic morality ; republicanism ; open and closed society
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Anna Krzynówek-Arndt, Łabędź, K. (Red.) (2024). Socjologia i psychologia polityki. Seria „Słowniki Społeczne”. W. Pasierbek & B. Szlachta (Red.). Kraków: Wydawnictwo Nauko-we Uniwersytetu Ignatianum w Krakowie [recenzja] , HORIZONS OF POLITICS: Vol. 16 No. 56 (2025): The European Union as a Model of Regional Integration
Details
References
Indicators
Authors
Zasady cytowania
Licence
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a CC BY-ND licence that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are asked to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access). We advise to use any of the following reserach society portals: