Ethics, community and loyalty

PROJECT FINISHED

This line of work consists of a normative study of the foundations and structure of human societies such as the family, the school, the Church, the city, the nation and the global community. 

In a world increasingly characterized by what sociologist Georg Simmel called a "network of group affiliations," it is complex to determine to which communities we owe our ethical allegiance. While each community may define the responsibilities of its members, the demands of the various communities are not always compatible.

For example, the State often claims the authority to intervene in the internal life of associations such as families and churches, while the latter often resist the State's claims by invoking opposing authorities, such as that of parents or God, or the right to autonomy of individuals or institutions.

In the context of a highly differentiated, complex and globalized social order, this study has essentially two aims: first, to develop a conception rules and regulations of authority that is capable of establishing when the normative demands that various associations make on their members or other associations are legitimate; second, to develop criteria that help individuals and groups in their efforts to discern and concert the demands of their various associative loyalties.