The Communitarian Concept of Subsidiarity in Modern Political Philosophy

The article examines the concept of subsidiarity developed in communitarian political philosophy (A. McIntyre, M. Sandel, M. Walzer, C. Taylor, D. Hollenbach, etc.) using the method of critical conceptual analysis. The conceptual structure of the communitarian concept of subsidiarity is compared with the structure of a similar concept in the liberal political and philosophical tradition. Based on the analysis, the following conclusions were drawn. The liberal interpretation significantly distorted the original meaning of the concept of subsidiarity, first reflected in Catholic social philosophy and implemented in the practices of medieval cities. Liberalism linked the concept of subsidiarity with nega-tive freedom, antisocial individualism, and the concept of a neutral state. This gave rise to the paradoxes of the liberal concept of subsidiarity: in order to curb the centrifugal tendencies that arise with such an institutional design, the cen-tralizing will of the state is necessary, and the concept of subsidiarity, universal in its original design, in liberal logic turned out to be applicable only in democratic liberal states. All these problems are solved in a communitarian interpretation of subsidiarity, combining this principle with the virtues of solidarity, attachment, identity, etc.