Scientific Knowledge, Discourse Ethics, and Consensus Formation on Public Policy Issues

Aligning Civic and Corporate Leadership with Human Dignity: Activism at the Intersection of Business and Government

“…This point is particularly important when considering possible real world applications of Habermas's discourse ethics, i.e., the ability of an influential individual to take on a proxy or surrogate persona in their reasoning process that leads them to a kind of activism that considers the dignity of everyone affected by the outcome of the discourse. Kettner makes it very clear that ' '[w]here the interests of future generations are at issue and direct participation is impossible, proxy or surrogate participants will have to step into their argumentative place in the discourse'' (Kettner 1993) The ability to take on a proxy or surrogate persona of the actual discourse participants generalizes to all affected individuals' perspectives, similar to Kettner's role-taking constraint.…”

“…However, Kettner recognizes that ''[not] every person affected will have to be heard; rather, what it implies is that the arguments put forward by the actual participants will have to be fairly representative of the arguments that all others concerned would or could present'' (Kettner 1993). This point is particularly important when considering possible real world applications of Habermas's discourse ethics, i.e., the ability of an influential individual to take on a proxy or surrogate persona in their reasoning process that leads them to a kind of activism that considers the dignity of everyone affected by the outcome of the discourse.…”

“…''Practical discourse provides its participants with symmetrical chances to introduce and challenge assertions and to express their needs, wishes, and interests'' (Kettner 1993). Already-privileged discourse participants-in particular, citizens of the developed world, policy makers, and business leaders-carry much of the responsibility to ensure equal access to discourse and the free insertion of critical questions in debates by all affected actors.…”

“…This study adopts five points of considerations as distilled by Kettner (1993) from Habermas's works. Habermas considers it essential that the discourse be rational, inclusive, democratic, and free of power asymmetries.…”

Planificación territorial fronética y ética práctica. Acortando las distancias entre plan y poder (política)

“…La participación toma significado en la medida en que es posible la racionalidad comunicativa, y para ello se establecen cinco requisitos (idealmente); más un sexto que sería el tiempo limitado (Habermas, 1993: 31;1990: 65-6;Kettner, 1993): 1. ninguna de las partes que intervienen deben ser excluidas del discurso (requisito de generalidad). el autor pone el acento en el concepto de participación inclusiva, dando voz especialmente a quienes más dificultades tienen para hacerse oír.…”