Publicidade, discurso e procedimento deliberativo: uma análise da teoria democrática de Jürgem Habermas

Abstract

This dissertation attempts to analyze how Habermas, by adopting a procedural and normative perspective, defends his proposal for "deliberative democracy", presented as a more appropriate alternative to understand , in the context of complex contemporary societies, the free citizenship, self-determination and sense of equality. Based on a more unpretentious conception of philosophy, which operates as interpreter of reality and abandons the traditional role as the arbiter of culture for society, Habermas advocates that there are rational principles, universally valid, which are ―embedded" in the inherent language function – to produce understanding. These principles, according to the author, can "ensure" democratic forms of coexistence and proscribe the ghost of violence, authoritarianism and barbarism. By keeping Universalist beliefs tied to a sort of ―weak transcendentalism‖, which is supported by the practice of everyday life, Habermas describes himself as a Kantian pragmatist who seeks to move away from Apel´s ―transcendental foundationalism‖ and get closer to the American pragmatism. By means of speech acts and publicity, oriented to the acceptance of some rules, the rational exchange of arguments composes the ultimate condition of democracy and legitimacy. This model of democracy requires the institutionalization of discourse procedures as a way of ensuring equality among citizens in political decision-making processes. According to Habermas, the procedural democracy is not as idealistic as the republican model or as utilitarian as the liberal one; it is between the two. In this model of democracy, citizens´ political self-determination forms the medium through which a community constitutes itself as a whole and the actions are driven to the citizen collective will. That is what we attempt to demonstrate in this essay. First of all, we analyze the concept of publicity and the way it is related to Habermas´ democracy model; afterwards, we focus on speech acts and the process of reaching an understanding between individuals; and finally, we investigate the procedural concept of deliberative democracy presented by Habermas.