INTERPRETING THE ‘OTHER’ IN DEMOCRACY: TOWARDS A DELIBERATIVE ETHIC
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/0256-8845/1777Keywords:
democracy, deliberation, interpretation, literary theory, CS Lewis, BakhtinAbstract
This article cautions against underestimating the complexity of the intersubjective interpretation involved in deliberation between citizens in a democracy. The subjective nature of interpretation potentially sabotages the possibility of truly hearing, or reading, others on their own terms, which, in turn, undermines the democratic ideal of basing decisions on the actual will of the interlocutors.
Authentic deliberation can in fact only follow on from a ‘good reading’ of the other, based on the actual rather than the interpreted views of the various parties. I argue that literary theory’s long engagement with such interpretive complexity can be employed to illuminate an interpretive stance that would do justice to both deliberation and democracy. In particular, C.S. Lewis’s and Mikhail Bakhtin’s arguments point to a reading of the other that, while acknowledging our subjectivity, also envisions the possibility of engaging with the other on his or her own terms.
References
Bakhtin, M. 1981. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Edited by M. Holquist. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Bakhtin, M. 1990. Art and Answerability: Early Philosophical Essays. Edited by M. Holquist and V. Liapunov. Austin: University of Texas Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7560/704114
Bakhtin, M. 1993. Toward a Philosophy of the Act. Edited by V. Liapunov and M. Holquist. Austin: University of Texas Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7560/765344
Ball, T. 2004. “History and the Interpretation of Texts.†In Handbook of Political Theory, ed. G. F. Gaus and C. Kukathas. London: SAGE.
Barry, B. 1989. Theories of justice. London: Harvester Wheatsheaf. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520341005
———. 1995. Justice as Impartiality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Barthes, R. G. 1977. Image, Music, Text. New York: Hill and Wang.
———. 1993. Mythologies. London: Vintage.
Belsey, C. 2002. Poststructuralism. A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/actrade/9780192801807.001.0001
Bohman, J. 1998. “The Coming of Age of Deliberative Democracy.†Journal of Political Philosophy 6: 400 – 425. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9760.00061
Cooke, M. 2000. “Five Arguments for Deliberative Democracy.†Political Studies 48: 954 – 56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9248.00289
Crowder, G. “Chantal Mouffe’s Agonistic Democracy“. Peer reviewed paper presented at the Australasian Political Studies Association conference, University of Newcastle, Australia, 25–27 September 2006.
Bohman, J., and W. Rehg, eds. 1997. Deliberative Democracy. Essays on Reason and Politics. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/2324.001.0001
Derrida, J. 1976. Of Grammatology. Baltimore: John Hopkins Press.
Dryzek, J. S. 2004. “Democratic Political Theory.†In Handbook of Political Theory, edited by G. F. Gaus and C. Kukathas. London: SAGE. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781848608139.n11
Elshtian, J. B. 1995. Democracy on Trial. New York: Basic Books.
Elster, J. 1998. Deliberative Democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139175005
Fishkin, J. 1991. Democracy and Deliberation: New Directions for Democratic Reform. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Foucault, M. 1984. “What is an Author?†In The Foucault Reader, ed. P. Rabinow. New York: Pantheon.
Gadamer, H. G. 2004. Truth and Method. 2nd revised edition. London: Continuum. Gray, J. 1995. “Does Democracy Have a Future?†New York Times Book Review, January 22.
Gutmann, A., and D. Thompson. 1996. Democracy and Disagreement. Cambridge: Belknap.
Habermas, J. 1985. “On Hermeneutics’ Claim to Universality.†In The Hermeneutics Reader: Texts of the German Tradition from the Enlightenment to the Present, ed. K. Mueller-Vollmer. New York: Continuum.
Habermas, J. 1996. Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/1564.001.0001
Held, D., ed. 1991. Political Theory Today. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Hirsch, E. D. 1967. Validity in Interpretation. New Haven: Yale University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350928510
Jacobs, A. 2001. Theology of Reading. The Hermeneutics of Love. Boulder: Westview Press.
Lasch, C. 1995. The Revolt of the Elites and the Betrayal of Democracy. New York: Norton DOI: https://doi.org/10.5840/chesterton1995211/255
Lewis, C. S. 1938. Out of the Silent Planet. London: Harper Collins.
———. 1940. The Problem of Pain. London: Harper Collins.
———. 1961. An Experiment in Criticism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
———. 1964. A Grief Observed. London: Faber and Faber.
———. 1970. God in the Dock. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.
Lilla, M. 1998. “The Politics of Jacques Derrida.†New York Review of Books, June 25.
Manin, B. 1987. “On Legitimacy and Political Deliberation.†Political Theory 15: 338–68. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591787015003005
Morson, G. S., and C. Emerson. 1990. Mikhail Bakhtin: Creation of a Prosaics. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780804765961
Nussbaum, M. C. 1990. Love’s Knowledge: Essays on Philosophy and Literature. New York: Oxford University Press.
O’Neill, O. 1991. “Transnational Justice.†In Political Theory Today, ed. D. Held. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Rawls, J. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.
Reppert, V. 2003. C.S. Lewis’s Dangerous Idea: In Defence of the Argument from Reason. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press.
Ricoeur, P. 1970. Freud and Philosophy: An Essay on Interpretation. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Ricoeur, P. 1981. Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences: Essays on Language, Action, and Interpretation. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Saward, M. 2002. Democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Talisse, R. B. 2005. Democracy after Liberalism: Pragmatism and Deliberative Politics. New York: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203997680
Taylor, C. 2011. “Why We Need A Radical Redefinition Of Secularism.†In The Power of Religion in the Public Sphere, ed. M. J. van Antwerpen. New York: Columbia University Press.
Young, I. 1990. Justice and the Politics of Difference. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
