The Political Philosophy of Freedom in the Christian Axiology of Republicanism

Sardaryan G.T.,

MGIMO University. Moscow, Russia, sardaryan.mgimo@gmail.com

elibrary_id: 755856 | ORCID: 0000-0001-8515-4321 | RESEARCHER_ID: P-9791-2017

DOI: 10.17976/jpps/2021.04.10

Rubric: Problems and Judgments: Religion, Politics and Ontology of the Social Being

For citation:

Sardaryan G.T. The Political Philosophy of Freedom in the Christian Axiology of Republicanism. – Polis. Political Studies. 2021. No. 4. P. 132-147. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.17976/jpps/2021.04.10

Abstract

The article examines, through an analysis of classical and modern political philosophy, the cultural and religious basis of the ideas underlying republicanism. The central question here is whether a republic could be considered a universal model of government, requiring only a well-structured constitutional law which regulates political process in a proper way, or it has a greater dependency on cultural background and values generated by religious heritage. The paper analyzes the essential content of the ideological and theoretical foundations of the republic, comparing them with the Christian religious and cultural tradition. At the same time, various approaches to understanding both the goal-setting of the republic as a whole and its constituent institutions are considered. The main task, in this regard, is to study the place and role of ideas and values in the formation of state institutions, tracing the influence of religious and cultural factors on the formation of public consensus on the configuration of the structure of state power; in the end, the task is to consider what the role of Christianity is in the formation of the modern ideological and theoretical foundations of republicanism, particularly in its key ideologeme of freedom. The author concludes that such a republic will be impossible without society being aware of its subjectivity, with the existence of common interests that may prevail over private ones and the need for individuals to sacrifice their own goods in the name of a common cause that is determined by society’s holistic values. All of these ideas comprise themes of Christianity, possibly making it the true source of the modern republican model. A striking example of this is the central theme of republicanism: freedom, which is traditionally equal in classical works with “non-slavery”. However, the negative concept (that is, the perception of freedom as “non-slavery”) is too vague and does not give any understanding of the essence of what freedom is as an independent category. Without purpose, meaning, and ideological essence, freedom as “non-slavery” is slave ownership. To overcome this contradiction, it is necessary to go beyond the negative concept of freedom and the slave/owner dichotomy. Without Christianity, the western form of the republican idea of human rights lacks the philosophical basis for the axiology of freedom. The systematic destruction of Christian religious cultural heritage can lead to the deprivation of the idea-theoretical basis of republic, which than can cause dysfunctionality of its key institutions.

Keywords

republicanism, Christianity, freedom, axiology, institutions.

Full Text

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Content No. 4, 2021