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Social conservatives construe the issues in equally extreme terms when
they argue that those opposed (as liberals are) to state-imposed religion (for
example, prayer in schools) or a ban on abortion, are simply "against" reli–
gion or "for" abortion. The possibility that one may favor certain values but
seek for them to be supported via the moral appeal of the community - and
not forced by the state - is lost.
While the concept of community may harbor the threat ofcoercion, it is
not necessarily the coercion of the state, but the moral compulsion ofa Salem–
like community. Sandel does not describe the institutions that would sustain
the moral community he envisions, but, as we have seen, the individual is
subject to the shared understandings, the collective consensus of the commu–
nity. In MacIntyre's project, the potential for moral pressure by a monolithic
community is more tangible - and threatening. "Practices," interpreted within
the context of "traditions," are the institutions that structure individual lives;
the societal "virtues" are the "acquired qualities" that enable individuals to
achieve the intrinsic goods of a collectivity. And we have seen that MacIn–
tyre does not provide a sound basis for the individual who criticizes the so–
cially fostered practices. MacIntyre's community, then, is morally domineer–
ing because human activity is sharply defined by and limited to a distinct
constellation of practices - and these endeavors are the only means through
which
an individual can find moral meaning and worth in the community. The
person who does not follow them is necessarily an outcast, for the community
lacks in its moral vocabulary legitimate alternatives and the capacity to allow,
respond to, and benefit from critical and innovative individuals.
The I &We paradigm builds on the concept of a responsive commu–
nity, one that appeals to values that members already possess ("Only you
can prevent forest fires!") and encourages them to internalize values they
currently do not have (before an appeal to prevent litter will be effective,
individuals are called upon to concern themselves with the environment).
This type of voluntary moral affirmation and education provides solid foun–
dations for a noncoercive community. When people act to express a value
they have truly acquired within a pluralistic community (internalized rather
than accepted as a social pressure to which they had "better" conform), they
are not, nor do they feel, coerced, even in a psychological sense. There is
nothing morally objectionable about such an act; on the contrary, without the
expression of internalized values, there would be no social coherence or
community - or for that matter, functioning individuals.
