Identity, community, and political judgment

Abstract

Is it possible to provide a “philosophical reduction” of extensively proliferating interpretations of the phenomenon of identity in humanities? Could the concept of ethno-cultural form of life serve as the end socio-anthropological correlate of its philosophical understanding through the notions of life-world, culture, a person of culture? Interpreting E. Ericson’s, A. Sen’s, K.A. Appiah’s, A. Maalouf’s, N. Sharansky’s and some other ideas the article responds in a positive way to the raised questions. At the same time it critisizes a trend of applying cosmopolitan view on the globalization process (A. Sen, J. Habermas) to analysis of the “end grounds” of the identity. The author refers to deliberated hermeneutical study of the “communitas” (Lat.) done by R. Esposito to join his conclusion on “no-thingness” of the “essence” or “communality” of community as identity of a collective subject. Using generalizations of B. Anderson as to “emagined nations” the author develops the view on identity as a way of being in terms of being-possibility, as well as through M. Heidegger's concept of ontological difference. Methodologically, such an approach can help to criticize various forms of reificationistic approaches in political judgments and in everyday life, i.e., under discriminating interpretations of identity through indication of the “negative features of national character”, biased reduction of communities and individuals to their bio-anthropological characteristics, etc.