|
Ian Robert Gibson
Department Kyoto University of Foreign Studies Department of British and American Studies, Faculty of Foreign Studies Position Professor |
|
| Language | English |
| Publication Date | 2020/03 |
| Type | Academic Paper |
| Peer Review | Peer reviewed |
| Invitation | Invited paper |
| Title | The Roots of Civic Engagement |
| Contribution Type | Single author |
| Journal | 研究報告集 SELL 第 36 号 |
| Journal Type | Japan |
| Volume, Issue, Page | 36,pp.23-38 |
| Details | Civic Engagement might be defined as acting beyond one's one self to initiate constructive social change and work to aid society. The stress here is on the action. Its foundations can be traced back to the ancient Greek and Roman societies of two millennia ago. Greek and Roman Philosophers such as Socrates, Diogenes of Sinope, Zeno, Epictetus, Seneca the Younger and Marcus Aurelius held that we were social actors capable of virtue (in Greek: arête, excellence or flourishing of character) the principal human quality. By using our innate faculty of reason we could work to achieve virtue together with its subordinate values, wisdom, justice, courage and temperance. In this paper I will explain these foundations of civic engagement and explore why civic engagement is not just an important form of social action but in turn functions as a necessary part of human life |