하벨의 ‘정치’: 실천 도덕의 마당으로서

• 영문명: Politics as A Field of Moral Practice: Havel's Confrontation with History
• 발행기관: 한국외국어대학교 동유럽발칸연구소
• 저자명: 박영신(Yong-Shin Park)
• 간행물 정보: 『동유럽발칸연구』동유럽연구 제9권, 31~49쪽, 전체 19쪽
• 주제분류: 사회과학 > 정치외교학
• 파일형태: PDF
• 발행일자: 2001.02.28

영문 초록

The closing years of '80s were characterized in history and politics by the 'collapse of Communism.' The analyses of this event have been undertaken largely within an 'ahistorical' frame. They have not taken into account the historical-cultural roots and referents to be found in the self-understanding of dissidents, and rested upon various mixed structural conditions. The result of this is the overlooking of the historical-cultural dimension of the formation of 'opposition' movements in Central and Eastern Europe. Keeping in mind the argument that my previous publication on a comparison of reform movements in Poland and Hungary, this paper examines Václav Havel's political thought: (1) the features of historical-cultural environment that are associated with the production of Havel's ideas, (2) the substantive nature of his political argument that gives politics alternative meanings, and finally (3) the lessons for the world that may come to renew and reconstruct political behavior. 1) The language and the very concept of Havel's 'politics' did not emerge in a vacuum in the cultural world. It mobilized a historically much cherished but politically repressed 'truth' tradition, dating back to the Czech Reformation epitomized by Jan Hus, and used it for debunking the habits of a "living within a lie" and proposing a "living within the truth," to use Havel's words. Communism was, for Havel, overthrown by conscience, not by physical force. 2) For Havel, the conceptual framework of politics is morally and intellectually based on self-reflection. His 'antipolitical politics' is an alternative to the politics of manipulation and control, leaving no room for participation of ordinary citizens. The totalizing politics is indeed not confined to the history of formerly soviet bloc; it is presently sweeping the whole of the globe. In a sense the soviet system was the possible shape of things to come, as modern states attempt to compel citizens into subjects to act mere parts of extra in a tightly organized stage. It accordingly involved questioning politics as the 'art of the utilitarian' at its deepest foundation, at the level of the everyday life of the individual and small group. 3) Politics itself depends on how we understand it. Were politics viewed as nothing beyond the mere strifes of greedy politicians to seek immediate profits, it would surely be reduced to the pursuit of various gains. Politics, as Havel conceives it, is deepened by our sense of the transcendental. This provides us with reference points, both intellectually and morally, renewing our respect for the spiritual dimension of humanity and for the order of nature. Even democracy cannot exist without conceptions of transcendence, telling us what is good and right and generating a deep sense of responsibility. Both the nature and concept of Havel's 'politics' can be adequately comprehended with the understanding of a sense of transcendent meaning as a form of culture deeply embedded in the Czech contexts in which it emerged.

목차

Ⅰ. 첫머리에

Ⅱ. ‘진리 주장’, 지성의 자원

Ⅲ. 정치의 새 지평

IV. 정치의 갱생을 위하여

Ⅴ. 맺음말

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