H.E.S. Woldring

The Constitutional State in the Political Philosophy of Johannes Althusius

The central questions of this article are: a) Based on what arguments defended Johannes Althusius the distinction between the private and public life sphere? b) What kind of relationships exist between the state on the one hand, and private and other public associations on the other hand? c) Based on what arguments may the government restrict actions of citizens and private associations? Answering these questions leads to the conclusion that Althusius should be mentioned as one of the founding fathers of the liberal constitutional state.

Political integration and linguistic plurality

Apres une analyse de la theorie du langage de Heidegger et de Gadamer, lA. examine les relations entre la culture et le langage. La culture est une production humaine dynamique qui determine lidentite dun peuple. Pour garantir une certaine integrite culturelle, les communautes doivent porter une attention particuliere a leur culture et, par voie de consequence, a leur langue. Lintegration politique de lEurope de louest est menacee par la persistence des varietes de langage. Cette persistence depend de la politique des gouvernements et de la conscience culturelle des nations