Abstract
The aim of this paper is threefold: (i) to trace the idea of deliberation back in the history of philosophy and establish the link to the Kantian concept of public reason; (ii) to pave the way for rhetoric as a constituent part of public deliberation; (iii) to undertake an applied ethical approach to worldwide deliberation online. The two former aims are treated in part one of the paper, whereas the applied analysis is undertaken in part two. One important task is to demonstrate in what ways the internet as a new and powerful venue for deliberation both challenges the old theories of public deliberation, and also points in the direction of certain revisions of our basic ideas about deliberation.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the Faculty of Arts, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology, for granting me a sabbatical during spring 2006, and Cambridge University, UK, the Faculty of Philosophy for accepting me as a Visiting Scholar during this period. Both have contributed to offering stimulating conditions while working on this article. Additionally, I would also thank the Democracy Unbound research group that I am a part of for instructive comments at our workshop “ The Viability and Desirability of Global Democracy” at Centre de Reserche Sens, Éthique, SociÉtÉ, Centre de␣la Reserche Scientifique, Paris, France April 24th–26th, 2006.
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Thorseth, M. Worldwide deliberation and public use of reason online. Ethics Inf Technol 8, 243–252 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-006-9116-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10676-006-9116-0