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Equal consideration of all – an aporetic project?

Title:

Equal consideration of all – an aporetic project?

Fritsch, Matthias (2006) Equal consideration of all – an aporetic project? Philosophy and Social Criticism, 32 (3). pp. 299-323. ISSN 0191-4537

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0191453706063206

Abstract

The article considers the relationships among three arguments that purport to establish the intrinsically contradictory or paradoxical nature of the modern project aiming at the equal consideration of all. The claim that the inevitable historical insertion of universal-egalitarian norms leads to always particular and untransparent interpretations of grammatically universal norms may be combined with the claim that the logic of determination of political communities tends to generate exclusions. The combination of these two claims lends specific force to the third argument according to which equal consideration perpetually requires the non-egalitarian project of understanding (excluded) individuals on their own terms. Hence, taking off from a recent debate between Christoph Menke and Jürgen Habermas, I argue that the former is right to diagnose an aporetic self-reflection in egalitarian universalism, while agreeing with the latter about the indispensability of deliberative democratic frameworks for the defence of both egalitarian and non-egalitarian norms.

Divisions:Concordia University > Faculty of Arts and Science > Philosophy
Item Type:Article
Refereed:Yes
Authors:Fritsch, Matthias
Journal or Publication:Philosophy and Social Criticism
Date:May 2006
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):10.1177/0191453706063206
Keywords:Theodor Adorno; deliberative democracy; Jacques Derrida; egalitarianism; equality; Jürgen Habermas; Christoph Menke; singularity * universalism
ID Code:6806
Deposited By: MATTHIAS FRITSCH
Deposited On:03 Aug 2010 15:07
Last Modified:18 Jan 2018 17:29

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