Respect, Civic Friendship, and the Role of Emotions

The last chapter discusses what motivates people to commit to and value the political community of which they are members and what exactly makes people consider relationships within the political community valuable. The concept of moral emotions as described by Jonathan Haidt is examined and is subsequently applied to the political sphere. It is assumed that for people to find a relationship valuable, they must feel positive emotions about it; at the same time, negative emotions within the common relationship must be eliminated. However, this is, it is argued, only possible if respect is ensured at both levels of the political community. It is therefore the principle of respect that enables positive emotions to be built and makes people consider a common relationship valuable.