시민적 덕목으로서 정치적 헌신행위에 대한 일 고찰: 민주시민교육에 대한 함의를 중심으로

Abstract

Generally, it has been assumed that a liberal polity does not need civic virtues. This study is an attempt to counter-argue that a liberal polity does need civic virtues. In arguing for civic virtues, a provocative question was asked: Can a democratic community demand political commitment or loyalty from its members? This study assumes that a democratic community is not in a position to demand political loyalty. The main reason is that the democratic community can not approximate to the relatively well-ordered community in the Rawlsian sense. It is a truism that the existing democratic community belongs to a deficient community where imperfect procedural justice rather than perfect procedural justice predominates. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the democratic community needs political commitment or loyalty from its members, since political loyalty can make a political community a viable one. Taking into consideration the necessity of political loyalty, this study wishes to regard political loyalty as a civic virtue rather than a civic duty. Certainly, the liberal citizen is not the same as the civic-republican citizen. In a liberal democratic society, there is no duty to participate actively in politics, no requirement to place the public above the private and to systematically subordinate personal interest to the common good, and no commitment to accept collective determination of personal choices. But neither is liberal citizenship simply the pursuit of self-interest, individually or in a factional collusion with others of like-mind. In this sense, the civic virtues demand less self-discipline and sacrifice than do the virtues of classical antiquity, of civic republicanism or Christianity and Rousseau. Still, these virtues are not reducible to the category of self-interest. Given the fact that the democratic community needs the citizenry willing to moderate its desires, the main conclusion of this study is that civic education should aim at inculcating virtues of citizenship rather than emphasizing rights and duties of citizenship.