Some democratic theorists, especially John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas, identify pervasive disagree... more Some democratic theorists, especially John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas, identify pervasive disagreements as "facts" of pluralistic political life, and propose strategies for either mitigating or altogether avoiding especially recalcitrant disagreements. Others-for instance, Chantal Mouffe and Amy Gutmann-suggest that disagreements are not only pervasive but desirable for democratic politics. This article argues that within a democratic context, the value of disagreement should be measured by its reasonableness rather than its termination in agreement between adversarial interlocutors. Plato's Gorgias illustrates such worthwhile disagreement. In the dialogue, the interlocutors approach and sustain disagreement while articulating Socrates' conception of disagreement as a form of civic care. By sustaining reasoned disagreements, citizens can care for democracy and about each other.
Some democratic theorists, especially John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas, identify pervasive disagree... more Some democratic theorists, especially John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas, identify pervasive disagreements as "facts" of pluralistic political life, and propose strategies for either mitigating or altogether avoiding especially recalcitrant disagreements. Others-for instance, Chantal Mouffe and Amy Gutmann-suggest that disagreements are not only pervasive but desirable for democratic politics. This article argues that within a democratic context, the value of disagreement should be measured by its reasonableness rather than its termination in agreement between adversarial interlocutors. Plato's Gorgias illustrates such worthwhile disagreement. In the dialogue, the interlocutors approach and sustain disagreement while articulating Socrates' conception of disagreement as a form of civic care. By sustaining reasoned disagreements, citizens can care for democracy and about each other.
Some democratic theorists, especially John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas, identify pervasive disagree... more Some democratic theorists, especially John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas, identify pervasive disagreements as "facts" of pluralistic political life, and propose strategies for either mitigating or altogether avoiding especially recalcitrant disagreements. Others-for instance, Chantal Mouffe and Amy Gutmann-suggest that disagreements are not only pervasive but desirable for democratic politics. This article argues that within a democratic context, the value of disagreement should be measured by its reasonableness rather than its termination in agreement between adversarial interlocutors. Plato's Gorgias illustrates such worthwhile disagreement. In the dialogue, the interlocutors approach and sustain disagreement while articulating Socrates' conception of disagreement as a form of civic care. By sustaining reasoned disagreements, citizens can care for democracy and about each other.
Some democratic theorists, especially John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas, identify pervasive disagree... more Some democratic theorists, especially John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas, identify pervasive disagreements as "facts" of pluralistic political life, and propose strategies for either mitigating or altogether avoiding especially recalcitrant disagreements. Others-for instance, Chantal Mouffe and Amy Gutmann-suggest that disagreements are not only pervasive but desirable for democratic politics. This article argues that within a democratic context, the value of disagreement should be measured by its reasonableness rather than its termination in agreement between adversarial interlocutors. Plato's Gorgias illustrates such worthwhile disagreement. In the dialogue, the interlocutors approach and sustain disagreement while articulating Socrates' conception of disagreement as a form of civic care. By sustaining reasoned disagreements, citizens can care for democracy and about each other.
Uploads