Between reason and affects: Habermas, Mouffe and the impasses of radical democracy
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https://doi.org/10.5902/2179378691826Keywords:
Habermas, Mouffe, Democracy, Reason, AffectsAbstract
The aim of this article is to analyze the extent to which Habermas's theory of deliberative democracy responds to the criticism of its inability to deal with emotions/affections in politics. This analysis will be carried out by confronting the criticism formulated by Chantal Mouffe. The central argument of the article is that there is no opposition between reason and affects in Habermas's work, but rather that the criteria of rationality established for political deliberation seek to avoid arbitrary power.
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