POLANYI ON NIHILISM, POLITICAL AUTHORITY, AND THE VITIATION OF CONVIVIALITY.

This article addresses the problem of the legitimacy of authority in philosopher Michael Polanyi's thought. Polanyi provides a model of society rooted in the common good that he calls conviviality. Conviviality creates unity amid perspectival pluralism because of its rootedness in a shared moral vision. The crisis of authority results from the absence of moral ideals that provide cohesion in society. The absence of moral ideals leads to the vitiation of conviviality and ultimately its commitment to the common good. The vitiation that occurs leaves nihilism in its wake, the product of expressive individualism and totalitarianism. In this essay, I explore three issues to clarify conviviality's vitiation. I discuss the nature of conviviality in the first section; liberalism's undoing of conviviality resulting in nihilism in the second section; and political authority and power in the last section. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]