Giovanni Sartori

Giovanni Sartori ( born May 13, 1924 in Florence ) is an Italian political scientist and philosopher. His book "Homo videns " on relations between the media and the current company reached a circulation of over 100,000.

Sartori received his doctorate in 1946 in Political and Social Sciences at the University of Florence. As a teacher of Modern Philosophy, Logic and Theory of the State, he headed the foundation named after Cesare Alfieri first Faculty of Political Science in Italy.

In 1954 he qualified as a professor for the subject " History of Modern Philosophy ", 1955 for political science.

From 1950 to 1956 he was professor of modern philosophy at the University of Florence, then from 1956 to 1963 Professor of Political Science in Florence, 1966-1976 Professor of Sociology in Florence. From 1976 to 1979 for Political Science in Florence.

Sartori was 1979-1994 Professor of Humanities and Social Sciences at Columbia University as " Albert Schweitzer Professor " and from 1992 to 1994 Professor of Political Science at the University of Florence.

In 1971 he founded the Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica ( Italian Journal of Political Science ).

1976 Sartori went to Stanford University in California as a professor of political science and senior fellow of the Hoover Institution. From 1979, he was Albert Schweitzer Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University in New York, where he is now Professor Emeritus. In addition, Sartori worked among others at Harvard University and Yale University as a lecturer. In 1993 he returned to Florence and taught until 1996 also as a professor of political science at the University of Florence.

Sartori is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Accademia dei Lincei and writes for the Italian daily Corriere della Sera. He holds honorary doctorates from the University of Genoa, Georgetown University, the University of Guadalajara and the University of Buenos Aires. Since 1988 he has been Vice President of the company Società Libera, to the study and promotion of liberal ideals of the company dedicated to.

Democratic theory

In his work, Parties and Party Systems from 1976 Sartori has made an important contribution to democratic theory. The focus of interest is the competitivity of party systems, for which he is one in political science today widespread, developed typology. This typology differs in a first stage of competitive non- competitive party systems. The competitive party systems can be further subdivided into systems of polarized pluralism and moderate pluralism, in a prädominantes party system and a two-party system. The non-competitive systems include single-party systems and hegemonic party systems.

The polarized pluralism is characterized in that a larger number of parties there that work hard together, wherein at least one party political system in principle and reject the opposition party is not responsible. This leads to triangles: two or more parties need to work together to support the government and at the same time fend off attacks on the state.

From the fact that no shifting coalitions are possible, followed by a solidification of the system: the parties can no longer move. These parties usually have a strong bond to a permanently circumscribed belief, which increases the polarization.

The moderate expression of pluralist party system is characterized by changing coalitions, by lower ideology, the lack of a fundamental opposition and a concentration of the contest of the parties to the government takeover.

Media theory and media criticism

Sartoris work Homo Videns: television broadcaster e - mail Pensiero 1997 is a popular science essay, which you can assign to the media criticism and media philosophy.

Sartori is based on the culture major philosophical work philosophy of symbolic forms of Neukantianers Ernst Cassirer, in which man is both anthropologically determined as Homo sapiens as a " animal symbolicum ".

Sartori accordingly characterizes the effect of the mass media as a replacement of the abstract, analytical, logical, systematic, and at the same time reality -based thinking by the visual perception of manipulated or virtual images. Following Leibniz, and Vico, but mainly due to the distinction of Immanuel Kant between mundus intelligibilis and mundus sensibilis in the Critique of Pure Reason Sartori represents his main thesis that the development of man was reversed by the influence of television, the gay videns have the Homo sapiens replaced, find it a regression to precultural early days of humanity instead.

Sartoris theory is followed in many respects to the work of Allan Bloom, Jürgen Habermas ' and Neil Postman's at. His main opponent is the " Negropontismus " by Nicholas Negroponte, who sees only the instruments of a superior, democratic and progressive civilization in the new media. Furthermore, Sartori is combat in opposition to all directions of postmodernism and deconstructivism, rationality and self-identity as an expression of coercion.

The main argument Sartoris is the distinction between seeing and understanding or recognition or comprehension and the determination of their relationship. While the senses give us passive visual images that are without structure and meaning, brings the mind through concept formation only produce meaningful relationships. In addition, the thinking is also able to solve all of experience. Language is the medium of this discursive, analytical thought process, which is also a reflection. Reality and self-awareness can not find in the way of sensory stimuli instead, they are the result of an active semantic, logical and systematic organization of the contents of consciousness.

Homo videns other hand lost in the digital, virtual, and manipulated imagery all contact with reality and to himself The circular wandering in hypertexts and the playful losing oneself in virtual worlds of illusion leading to loss of self- control, for the chaotic disorientation, for splitting the neurotic ego in multiple personalities.

Following Leibniz, who thought and free choice is illustrated in their inner connection, Sartori concludes that the modern homo ludens at the same time not free, externally controlled and politically incompetent is what makes the existence of representative democracy in question or misunderstood participation destroyed democracy and replaced with mediocracy.

Others

Sartori published in March 2009, a book entitled Il Sultanato ( German: The Sultanate of ). He analyzed the Italy that Silvio Berlusconi had for decades with his media power as the owner of the group Mediaset ( Berlusconi → ).