Critical Analysis of the Deliberative School in Contemporary Human Rights Discourse with an Emphasize on John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas Thoughts

Abstract

In the contemporary human rights discourse, four schools of thought can be identified, including the Natural Law School, the Protest School, the Deliberative School, and the Discourse School. This essay is devoted to critical analysis of the Deliberative School in contemporary human rights discourse. The Deliberative School is most trusted by the views of two of the most important contemporary thinkers, Jurgen Habermas and John Rawls, in political philosophy. These two thinkers consider dialogue and counseling as one of the most important tools for achieving consensus and empathy in normative affairs in human societies, albeit with different perceptions and approaches. The basic question here is whether, as the advocates of the Deliberative School think, dialogue and consultation are the means for reaching a consensus on human rights and moral values? Deliberation and dialogue in some cases may lead not only to consensus but also to results such as assimilation of minorities and imposing certain values on other values or domination of the majority on the minority.