Political participation, the Betzavta Method and the interpretation of Hegel’s concept of freedom in "Philosophy of Right"

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to confront Hegel’s political philosophy regarding ethical community and civil society with the objective of betzavta, which is an educational method promoting democratic decision-making processes. The concepts of freedom and ethical community were strongly present in Hegel’s Philosophy of Right and later on discussed by Zbigniew Pelczynski (1971, 1984a, 1984b), ShlomoAvineri (1972), Charles Taylor (1979) and Marek Siemek (1995,1998). This article reconstructs these Hegelian conceptsbased on their liberalinterpretations andconfrontsthem with contemporary challenges related to minority rights, conflict of values, decision-making processes and political participationin relation to the experiences gained during thebetzavta workshops.The main problem defined is the question whether it’s possible to reach a consensus in a given society that would conclude with the establishment of ethical community. The general assumption of this article is that because of the impossibility to obtain a consensus on fundamental values (lack of compromise on same-sex marriage or abortion), an ethical community that would secure both particular and public freedom cannot be reached. The clash between subjective and objective freedom can be perceived through the lenses of the classical problem of a tyranny of majority, where minorities are pushed towards a submissive compromise with the rules set by the majority. An experience of theBetzavta Method will also be included in the general reflections on the essence of freedom in political participation and the silent presence of certain members in decision taking-processes. null