The Inadequacy of liberal citizenship

Authors

• Vesa Heikkinen Helsingin yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37449/ennenjanyt.89063

Keywords:

Citizenship, European Union, Republicanism, Liberalism, Political philosophy

Abstract

The issue this essay attempts to address is the viewpoint of a modern European citizen. The essay begins with a brief sketch of the two traditions of citizenship which are conventionally recognized, namely the civic republican and the liberal tradition. Having established those as frames of reference, the essay will proceed to ponder three different viewpoints from which a modern European could see his citizenship. This will be carried out through a metaphor that stems from the very origins of European political theory, namely from Aristotle’s Politics, in which he ponders the essence of virtuous citizenship using the image of a sail ship. Distinguishing the virtuous man from the virtuous citizen, he pictures the latter one as a member of a sailing crew, whose individual position as part of the whole may differ from those next to him, just as the position of the rower differs from that of the look-out man. Should one adopt this view, remaining is the question of which boat does the citizen crew? The steamship of the nation-state, the large continental liner of the whole European Union, or perhaps the single boat of a free individual?