This thesis is a critical examination of Fukuyama's "end of history" version of
liberalism, in which he announces the triumphant emergence of liberal democracy
as a universal form of governance. The thesis seeks to investigate Francis
Fukuyama's notion of liberal democracy and his arguments for it, in order to
assess the normative impact of market driven political and economic outcomes on
the human context or life satisfaction, especially recognition. This is contrasted
with Amartya Sen's notion of well-being in order to show that Fukuyama does not
pay attention to some of the basic moral demands of human life.
The thesis is comprised of an introduction and six chapters. The contents of
these chapters can be presented briefly as follows:
• The first chapter looks at how Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and Kant use the
theory of social contract to explain the genesis and justification of the state.
Featuring prominently in all their versions of social contract are the values of
freedom, equality, and independence of the individual, the process of
consensus, the primacy of self-preservation and the necessity of the state.
Together these laid the basis for a philosophically reasoned and
progressive theory of politics. This chapter also looks at the theory of
laissez-faire, which paved the way for a free market economy. This doctrine
was developed in the thought of Adam Smith, Ricardo, Mill and Bentham.
For Fukuyama these thinkers inaugurated a tradition of political thought that
ultimately led to liberalism and democracy.
• The second chapter discusses the teleological view of history underlying the
philosophical theories of history advanced by Kant, Hegel, and Marx. Each
of these thinkers assumes that history is moving towards an end point or
goal. It is from these philosophers that Fukuyama appropriates the idea of
universality to envisage the universality of liberal democracy.
• The third chapter analyzes Fukuyama's "end of history" claim and his
arguments for it. When communism finally collapsed, liberal democracy was
the only remaining option, he claims. Drawing on Kant's idea of universal
history, Hegel's notion of a universal and homogeneous state and Marx's
materialist interpretation of history, Fukuyama envisages a global order that
will be ushered in by the universal and homogeneous liberal state which is the ultimate goal of liberal democracy. It is the duty of the liberal state to
ensure equal and mutual recognition and affirmation of its citizens' freedom.
• The fourth chapter stages a debate between Fukuyama and Sen in which
the question of life satisfaction and its achievability is addressed. Fukuyama
claims that human-beings desire recognition, and can best satisfy this
desire through liberal democracy. Sen for his part claims that people need
well-being, and can only achieve it through democracy, which he views as a
universal value. The discussion shows that although Fukuyama and Sen
may share similar political values they differ ideologically and in historical
vision.
• The fifth chapter deals with the critical evaluation of liberal democracy.
Several issues present major problems for liberal democracy. These issues
are liberal individualism as the central focus of liberalism and liberal
democracy; the global trend against gender bias; the political and cultural
homogenization of the world; the problem of parallel histories versus a
single inclusive history; desire-satisfaction versus need-satisfaction, and the
cultural preconditions of liberal democracy.
• The sixth chapter recapitulates the preceding chapters and spells out the
conclusion reached in the course of the thesis.
The findings on the notion of the "end of history" show that Fukuyama wishes the
equal and mutual recognition of the freedom and dignity of all individuals as well as
the affirmation of their individual rights. This concern for the individual is laudable.
However, excessive individualism threatens the fabric of every society, and
Fukuyama realizes that this threat is especially strong in liberal democracy. His
suggested solution is to cultivate social capital in the form of trust. This thesis
concludes that Fukuyama's medicine is no match for the disease; the whole thrust
of the intellectual tradition leading to liberal democracy - and of much else in
Western culture since Hobbes - is in the direction of excessive individualism and
the withering of community. Moreover, where Fukuyama sees isothymia - the
desire for equal recognition, the psychological truth is probably that people desire
to be recognized as superior - mega/othymia, again making individualism
intrinsically more threatening to a sense of community than Fukuyama seems to realize. Fukuyama suggests that an international consensus in favour of liberal
democracy is emerging. But it appears that such a consensus is unlikely to arise nation-
states fear disenfranchisement and assimilation and thus insist on their
sovereignty, effectively blocking any shift from the nation-state to a homogeneous
and universal liberal state. It is difficult to generate the consensus needed to
receive it as a universal system, because not all people subscribe to its cultural
preconditions. The satisfaction of human desire of any kind cannot be
universalized since human existence is centrally characterized by diversity of
context, culture, and perception. Any attempt to impose cultural or ideological
homogeneity requires conquest - cultural or military imperialism.
The triumphant emergence of liberal democracy cannot be the ultimate end
of the whole of human history. If this were the case, it would no longer be worth
trying to increase human knowledge, since knowledge always points to an open
future in terms of how it will be used for further advancement.
Due to its internal contradictions, such as the tension between excessive
individualism and community, liberal democracy has unintended negative
consequences. Liberal democracy is not yet the final ideology leading to human
satisfaction at a global level for this generation and generations to come as long as
human thought evolves. This will remain the case as long as Fukuyama's
admission that liberal democracy only works where its cultural preconditions are
met, remains true. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2003.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/4195 |
| Date | January 2003 |
| Creators | Wuriga, Rabson. |
| Contributors | Herwitz, Daniel., Gouws, Andries S. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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