Linguistique de l’écrit

Revue internationale en libre accès

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Open society and the European union

Miloslav Bednář

pp. 237-244

Résumé

Popper's concept of the open society articulates and further develops the classical paradigm of the liberal human condition. The radical challenge of totalitarianism as an alternative mode of human existence motivated Karl Popper to define freedom, the very heart of democratic civilization, as the standard and criterion of human dignity. Dictatorships and totalitarian regimes suppress human freedom, which is the basic characteristic of open democratic societies and states. Today, the European Union has apparently evolved into a sophisticated post-democratic entity with a highly-regulated, closed, non-liberal, irrational, non-humanitarian, and consequently undemocratic nature. This relatively new historical phenomenon thereby represents a new type of serious threat to the freedom of individuals and open societies alongside those that we already know from history.

Détails de la publication

Publié dans:

Parusniková Zuzana, Cohen Robert S (2009) Rethinking Popper. Dordrecht, Springer.

Pages: 237-244

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4020-9338-8_18

Citation complète:

Bednář Miloslav, 2009, Open society and the European union. In Z. Parusniková & R.S. Cohen (eds.) Rethinking Popper (237-244). Dordrecht, Springer.