The Role of Deliberation, Discourse Ethics and Difference in a Pluralistic Public Sphere

Abstract

Defining a world beyond cultural, ethnic and religious barriers demands a stream of constant discourse and deliberation in sphere between different groups. The underlying idea here is that deliberation and discourse produces an association between groups of difference through public argument and reasoning among equal citizens. The goal is to produce a deliberative process and discourse ethics in which the unforced force of better argument prevails. The intentions are noble: to acknowledge and pay attention to opinions of all members in a pluralized sphere with hope of creating a society and world in which we can share our values beyond cultural, ethnic and religious barriers. In this effort, recognition of 'Other' viewed through politics of difference, has emerged to challenge traditional notions of participation and citizenship. This paper will examine these themes in depth. In first section, it will introduce a theoretical framework for understanding and analyzing effectiveness of deliberation and discourse ethics in a pluralized sphere. The attention in second section will focus on clarifying confusion between politics of identity and difference; and examine notion of difference within boundaries of a social perspective. The final section will seek to explore extent to which conceptions of deliberative democracy is compatible with politics of difference and viability of difference as a discourse and deliberative resource.