Towards Respectful Deliberation

Deep Disagreements and Liberal Democracies
Von Lara Wüster

wuesterlara@gmail.com

Bachelorstudiengang Philosophie, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München


In the context of the climate crisis, this paper examines the challenge deep disagreements (DD) pose to liberal democracies (LD), especially when mutual respect, pivotal in Rawlsian public reason, becomes elusive. Valentini (2013) posits that thick reasonable disagreement (TRD), rooted in mutual respect, is essential for LD. Contrarily, De Ridder (2021) argues that deep disagreements exacerbate political polarization. Analyzing these perspectives, the paper underscores the imperative of mutual respect in effective deliberation, advocating for its intentional cultivation to uphold democracy’s normative value.