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Zagrebelsky, Gustavo
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3 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.
Gustavo Zagrebelsky on morals and truth in politics
The scandals involving Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi prompt Gustavo Zagrebelsky, a constitutional judge, to reflect on moral standards in politics in the left-liberal daily La Repubblica: "Lies and hypocrisy to the point of schizophrenia have always gone hand in hand with power. This matter-of-fact observation can only end the debate for Nihilists who believe in eternal, naked power which from time to time shows itself in different attire, but only to conceal an irrevocable and terrible truth. For others who believe that there are different potential forms of conceiving and shaping political relations, truth and lies, morals and hypocrisy remain dilemmas on which one can and must take a stand. … It's obvious and only natural that immorality fears the truth. The stubborn denial of the truth and of access to it for all in an open debate … is proof that this is a matter of political ethics and not only one of personal morals: It is an issue that interests everyone, not just family members, friends and customers."
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More from the press review on the subject » Philosophy, » Weltanschauung, » Italy, » Global
Gustavo Zagrebelsky on words in democracy
On the occasion of the Democracy Biennial which started yesterday in Turin, the Italian consitutional court judge Gustavo Zagrebelsky writes on the significance of words in the democratic process: "Democracy is a system of free exchange of opinions and convictions based on mutual respect. And words are instruments of this exchange. ... For this reason we must take particular care in dealing with words ... both quantitatively and qualitatively. ... One of the greatest dangers for words in democracy consists in using them hypnotically. Such use seduces the masses, and whips up violence in the name of things that could easily be shown as irrational if demagogues had not enshrouded them under the flood of rhetoric. This rhetoric, these words, must respect the concept, not distort it, otherwise dialogue turns easily into deception. ... Such deception is clearly visible even with the word 'politics'. Politics comes from 'polis' and 'politeia', meaning community and cohabitation. ... But today we speak of a politics of war, of racial separation, expansionism and colonialism. ... The famous definition [by German philosopher] Carl Schmitt of politics as the distinction between friends and foes, as a relationship of oppression and of the absolute irreconcilability of opposites is perhaps the most representative example of this abuse of words."
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More from the press review on the subject » Public Culture, » Philosophy, » Global
Gustavo Zagrebelsky on the current view of 'foreigners'
The Italian lawyer Gustavo Zagrebelsky analyses the notion of 'foreigners' in western society. "If social relationships were perfectly balanced, the word foreigner and its current synonyms (migrant, immigrant, EU outsiders) and its different variations North-African, Islamic, Roma, Chinese, etc. ...) would be neutral words deprived of discriminatory meaning ... . In former societies the foreigner was the enemy by definition, the one who should be pilfered if not killed. Humanity functioned with the idea that it was divided into separate community, naturally hostile to one another. ... Since then, the idea of a global society, with common laws has progresses with the multiplication of conventions and international declarations ... . But today, the fatal pitfall lies in the distinction between regular and irregular immigrants."
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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Europe
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