»Množica« kot politični problem moderne filozofije

Abstract

“Multitude” as a Political Problem of Modern Philosophy Multitude presents a crucial problem for modern political philosophy. On the one hand, it seems that political decisions of the multitude are the most rational ones. That is why the modern democratic regime is defined as a rule of the masses. However, on the other hand, rational political thought, that is grounded in modern philosophy, remains skeptical towards the masses, because of their supposed inherent irrationality. In this paper, we will try to show the genealogy of this ambivalence. We will expose the connection between the philosophical ideal of a thinker’s solitude and the ideal of a citizen in the enlightened state, who argues, but at the same time also obeys the laws. In the end, we will try to expose how such an enlightened philosophical attitude, that excludes unenlightened masses, relates to the position of bourgeoisie in a sense that it protects private property against unenlightened masses. We will argue that the turning point of thought as presented by enlightenment (in which the connection between bourgeoise and rational philosophy replaces the connection between religious authorities and aristocracy) immanently includes the intention for the universalization of reason, but at the same time also prevents the accomplishment of revolution in which rationality of everybody would come to power.

Keywords

• multitude
• masses
• the individual
• power
• solitude
• kant
• deleuze
• spinoza
• marx