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Discourse Ethics

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

1. articulate why discourse ethics was a necessary


development;

2. explain the principles of (U) and (D) as the foundations of


discourse ethics; and

3. discuss the principles of fair and just discourse and how


these principles lead to a shared we-perspective
Introduction

 most people assume that they know what is right and wrong

 they have an instinctive and most of the time, unshakable moral judgement

Do you have any opinion about wife beating?

 wife beating or any beating is unacceptable and inexcusable


 a normal course of behaviour that is a private matter between husband and
wife
 a crime that the state must intervene
 often, people do not think about moral issues as problematic
because they have an ethical framework from which to interpret
actions

 their understanding about the relationship about husband and wife , their
duties, roles they play, the relationship of power and authority are
accepted from their culture

 human beings feel that some conceptions of the good are more fruitful
and more creative for living a human life

 it is even possible that some conceptions of the good actually violate the
integrity of human existence

 If we need to live together, we have to shared conception of the good


 people believed that the gods or the cosmos imposed a natural
law and the good was based on the transcendent order

 great religion already defined how the natural law was the
foundation of the natural good

 when civilizations could universally accept the authority of the


transcendent, they could universally accept a universal, natural
law on which to base their existence

 Western world began to emphasize the autonomy of human being


from the will and intelligence of a transcendent God, people lost
the basis of the good that everyone could agree with
 the primary task of Western men is to find the basis of conception of the good
that did not rely on a transcendent order

 they realized that human person was autonomous being

 human person was universal for all persons, then they could devise rules for
reason that would ensure that reasonable persons could arrive at an
understanding of the good that was acceptable to all men

 as long as the autonomous humans had rules for legitimately legislating for
themselves an understanding of the good that everyone could accept as
rational , then there would be a universal conception of the good that was not
dependent on a god or the cosmos

 ethical thinking was faced with the reality of multiple cultures and possible
conceptions of the good
Discourse Theory

 is a theory that shows rational people how to arrive at a


shared conception of the good using reason alone

 reason meant the various forms of reason of people from


different culture and systems of values.

 Discourse theory sought to articulate the basic principles


for arriving at a consensual understanding of the good so
that people in a shared world could live with each other
Jurgen Habermas
 philosopher of Discourse Theory

 born in Germany in 1929 and was a formed as a thinker


during the post-World War II reconstruction

 democratization of modern societies founded on communicative


action and practice

 his contribution to philosophy is the analysis of the emergence


of the public sphere and civil society
Competing Conceptions of the Good

 societies today are no longer homogenous and people have


different forms of reason, including moral reasoning

 INJUSTICE- particular danger in multicultural societies

 the dominant system determines what is acceptable and


unacceptable behaviour, what can be expected and what duties
persons have to each other and to society

 people’s lives can be determined by the dominant ethical thinking


about the good
How does a dominant system come about?

 often, dominant system evolve:

 life of human beings

 shared understanding

 morality

 many rules that govern people make sense while the conditions
that make them useful exist

 generally dominant system are guides for human behaviour,


especially in community
 people do good because they are following a maxim

 they have a need to realize their potential as free beings

Good – fullest potential

 human beings need norms of behaviour

 in contemporary times, it becomes more difficult to specify these


norms on ones own

 one is not the bearer of a rationality that reflects the rationality of all
peoples

 Habermas is one of the philosophers who has helped sort out the
principles for formulating conceptions of the good solidarity with others
 Human beings act in the society.

 norms of human behaviour should be acceptable

How then do people proceed to articulate norms of human behaviour?

 they must understand that they need a process of justification

 process of opinion and will formation

 being autonomous law giving individuals, there ought to be maxim


that can guide their way of articulating reality.

 “ Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same
time will that it should become a universal law”
 humanity has seen that people from various cultures and socities
have produced various forms of rationality with their own
conception of good

Habermas proposes:

“ All affected can accept the consequences and the side effects its
general observance can be anticipated to have for the satisfaction of
everyone’s interest ( and these consequences are preferred to those
of known alternative possibilities for regulation)
 Habermas comes up with the principle of discourse ethics:

“ only those norms can claim to be valid that meet with the approval
of all affected in their capacity as participants in a practical
discourse”

 it is important to participate in a practical discourse

Practical Discourse- cooperative process of argumentation

 If people are able to engage each other in the creative process of


deliberation, then they are able to explore together what the basic
principles of their moral beliefs are.
Basic character of Discourse Procedure

1. The process must take place in argumentative form or through the


“ regulated exchange information and reasons among parties who
introduce and critically test proposals” .

2. “ Deliberations are inclusive and public’’. No one is excluded and


those who may be possibly affected are given an equal chance to
take part.

3. Deliberations are uncoerced and participants are “ bound only by


the presuppositions of communication and rules of argumentation.

4. “ Deliberations are free of any internal coercion that could detract


from the equality of the participants.
5. “ Deliberation aims in general at rationally motivated agreements
and can in principle be indefinitely continued

6. “ Political Deliberations extend to any matter that can be regulated


in the equal interest of all.”

7. “ Political Deliberations also include the interpretation of needs


and wants and the change of prepolitical attitudes and prefernces”a
Shared Opinion and Will- Formation

 total consensual agreement on the good is almost impossible to


realize

 a shared we-perspective is a community shared horizon of


understanding that is born from the free and fair engagement of
persons who bear different frames for understanding the good.

 creative dialogue is a mutual justification

 the participants in creative discourse that not all conceptions of


the good are acceptable to all people
 ex. competing conceptions of land ownership

 non- Westernized

 modern Westernized

 indigenous people

 important for people of good will to engage in a process


of mutual justification and clarification

 consensus building is different from making


compromises
Habermas 3 basic principles

1. All affected must be part of the process of deliberation.

 Genuine representation

2. The process must be fair such that all external influence like

power and money are suspended and only the force of the better

argument has influence over the participants.

3. All decisions and arguments have a “for now” characteristic


Democracy and Discourse

 Philippine nation is divided in diverse culture and ethnolinguistic

 it is a Western systems of democratic governance

 people from traditional societies who have to engage in dominant


economic system feel lost in it

 it is important that the marginalized people have systems of


discourse that allow them to reform the policies that disadvantage
them

 our democratic system are discourse system where all affected


are able to engage in creative discourse
Conclusion

 Habermas provides an ideal discourse situation for

people to build norms of behaviour consensually.

 Discourse theory has been applied to studies for

understanding democratic institutions and their reform,

building just societies, and even assessing institutions

for peace building


PREPARED BY:

BSED SCIENCE 2-A

REVINA AREVALO
JESSA GAMILONG
JHON JEB GANANCIAL

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