Representative democracy and conflict in J. S. Mill

• Grant number: 16/06062-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: September 01, 2016
• End date: April 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Philosophy - History of Philosophy
• Principal Investigator: Alberto Ribeiro Gonçalves de Barros
• Grantee: Gustavo Hessmann Dalaqua
• Supervisor: Nadia Urbinati
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas (FFLCH). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Columbia University in the City of New York, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 15/22251-0 - Representative democracy and conflict in J. S. Mill, BP.DR

Abstract

The aim of this project is to research the relationship between representative democracy and conflict in John Stuart Mill's political philosophy. Among academics, this relationship has been interpreted in very different ways. Some scholars claim that Mill's idea of democracy is incompatible with political conflict because, ultimately, it focuses too much on consent. On the other hand, there are scholars who identify in Mill a radical political agonism that would offer a non-consensual model of democracy. Our hypothesis is that neither of these views is exactly accurate: although he highlights the centrality of conflict in political life, Mill believes that democratic deliberation presupposes a minimal consent regarding the formal value of democracy's basic principles, viz. the principles of individual freedom and political and social equality. The condition for democracy's stability is the recognition of equality and liberty as ultimate principles of political legitimacy. Yet it would be incorrect to say that just because he believes such consent is necessary, Mill denies political conflict. The recognition of liberty and equality as democracy's guiding principles indicates the beginning, not the end, of political conflict. Once admitted as democracy's basis, the determination of the precise content and extent of the principles of equality and liberty becomes the major flashpoint of democratic deliberation. Liberty and equality are thus formal principles that are fulfilled and defined through conflicting and ongoing democratic debates. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DALAQUA, GUSTAVO HESSMANN. DEMOCRACY AND TRUTH: A CONTINGENT DEFENSE OF EPISTEMIC DEMOCRACY. CRITICAL REVIEW, v. 29, n. 1, p. 49-71, 2017. (16/06062-6)