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Terminology

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description: Though communitarianism as a philosophy originated in the 20th-century, the term “communitarian” was coined in 1841 by John Goodwyn Barmby, a leader of the British Chartist movement, who used it to ...

Though communitarianism as a philosophy originated in the 20th-century, the term “communitarian” was coined in 1841 by John Goodwyn Barmby, a leader of the British Chartist movement, who used it to refer to utopian socialists and others who experimented with unusual communal lifestyles. However, it was not until the 1980s that the term gained currency through its association with the work of a small group of mostly American political philosophers. Their application of the label ‘communitarian’ has invited controversy, even among communitarians themselves. For many in the West the term communitarian conjures up socialist or collectivist associations, so public leaders – and even several academics considered champions of this school – generally avoid the term while still embracing and advancing its ideas.

The term is primarily used in two senses:

Philosophical communitarianism considers classical liberalism to be ontologically and epistemologically incoherent, and opposes it on those grounds. Unlike classical liberalism, which construes communities as originating from the voluntary acts of pre-community individuals, it emphasizes the role of the community in defining and shaping individuals. Communitarians believe that the value of community is not sufficiently recognized in liberal theories of justice.
Ideological communitarianism is characterized as a radical centrist ideology that is sometimes marked by leftism on economic issues and moralism or conservatism on social issues. This usage was coined recently. When the term is capitalized, it usually refers to the Responsive Communitarian movement of Amitai Etzioni and other philosophers.

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Terminology

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