Two Decades of Postmodern Ethics. An Analysis of the Critique and the Evolution of Zygmunt Bauman's Ethical Thought Cover Image

DWIE DEKADY ETYKI PONOWOCZESNEJ. ANALIZA KRYTYKI I EWO­LUCJI REFLEKSJI ETYCZNEJ ZYGMUNTA BAUMANA
Two Decades of Postmodern Ethics. An Analysis of the Critique and the Evolution of Zygmunt Bauman's Ethical Thought

Author(s): Dariusz Brzeziński
Subject(s): Social Sciences
Published by: Instytut Filozofii i Socjologii Polskiej Akademii Nauk
Keywords: Zygmunt Bauman; morality; ethics; social justice; liquid modernity

Summary/Abstract: Ethics has been one of the main fields of Zygmunt Bauman’s interests for the last two decades. His papers considering this topic have a considerable impact on contemporary humanities. The idea of „the moral party of two”, developed by the Polish sociologist, contributed to the development of ethical thought and, for example, influenced the new trends in the debate on postmodernity. On the other hand, this concept has been widely criticized, which is one of the issues discussed in this paper. The author demonstrates that if Bauman’s ethical concept are considered in the context of the foundations of his sociology, and account being taken of the way of writing distinctive for this sociologist, certain controversial aspects of postmodern ethics could be evaluated as functional. Another aim of this paper is to present the evolution of Bauman’s ethical thought, which can be seen as twofold. On the one hand, it is the considerable enlargement of the part the individual responsibility is given in Bauman’s thought, on the other – his including in the ethical thought the reflection on the role of the political structures in the settings of the collective rules. The author emphasizes that by making such changes Bauman does not deny the constitutive features of his idea of morality, but supplements it and tries to adjust it to the current socio cultural changes.

  • Issue Year: 190/2008
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 7-42
  • Page Count: 35
  • Language: Polish