Hugur - 01.01.2013, Page 74

 Hlynur Helgason
Atli Harðarson. . Lýðræði. Líndæla – Sigur!ur Líndal sjötugur (bls. –). Ritstj.
Garðar Gíslason o.fl.. Reykjavík: Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag.
Eiríkur Tómasson. . Átti skortur á lýðræðislegum stjórnarháttum þátt í nýaf-
stöðnu bankahruni á Íslandi? Making peoples heard: Essays on human rights in honour
of Gu!mundur Alfre!sson (bls. –). Ritstj. Asbjørn Eide, Jakob O. Möller og
Ineta Ziemele. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff.
Ólafur Páll Jónsson. . Náttúra, vald og ver!mæti. Reykjavík: Hið íslenska bók-
menntafélag.
Ólafur Páll Jónsson. . Lýðræði, réttlæti og haustið . Skírnir  (haust):
–.
Vilhjálmur Árnason. . Ríkið og lýðræðið – Páll um stjórnmál. Hugsa! me! Páli:
Ritger!ir til hei!urs Páli Skúlasyni sextugum (bls. –). Ritstjórar Róbert H. Har-
aldsson, Salvör Nordal og Vilhjálmur Árnason. Reykjavík: Háskólaútgáfan.
Vilhjálmur Árnason. . Valdið og vitið: Lýðræðið ígrundað. Ritrö! Gu!fræ!istofn-
unar : –.
Wallach, John R. . )e Platonic Political Art: A Study of Critical Reason and Demo-
cracy. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Abstract
Art and the Constitution of Democracy
Oree Icelandic artworks are taken into consideration, by Hlynur Hallsson, Ósk
Vilhjálmsdóttir, and Libia Castro and Ólafur Ólafsson, all made prior to the
fiscal collapse in Iceland in . Democracy as a concept is discussed, and the
way it was constituted by Aristotle where its various contradictions become vis-
ible, as well as the fundamental idea of democracy as a median between various
different constitutions, a conception that still applies to modern constitutional
discourse. Oe focus of discussion then turns to the present state of philosophical
discussion on the problems of democracy in Iceland, notably in recent work by
Ólafur Páll Jónsson and Vilhjálmur Árnason, summing up their conclusion on
the importance of establishing an ethical democratic consciousness among the
subjects as a prerequisite for the establishment of a real democratic constitution.
It is argued that this point of view has limited applicability due to the a priori un-
derstanding of subjectivity as being individual, rather than treating the subject as
a heterogeneous multiplicity. Oese ideas—a problematic concept of demo cracy,
argumentation, civil subjectivity and heterogeneous conceptions of the subject—
are, to conclude, applied in an analysis and critique of the functioning of the
aforementioned artwork. Oe conclusion is that an artistic intervention can be a
positive supplement to philosophical discourse on democracy, as is exemplified
when artists actively address the constitution of democracy in their work and
thus demonstrate underlying problems of social construction as well as possible
solutions.
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