Capable deliberators: towards inclusion of minority minds in discourse practices

Schramme, Thomas ORCID: 0000-0001-6319-6635 (2021) Capable deliberators: towards inclusion of minority minds in discourse practices Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy, 27 (5). pp. 1-24. ISSN 1369-8230, 1743-8772

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Abstract

It is widely assumed that severe mental disabilities prevent relevant deliberative capacities from developing or persisting. Accordingly, excluding many people with mental disabilities from discourse practices seems justified. Against this common assumption I wish to show that the general exclusion is not justified and amounts to a form of epistemic injustice, as theorised by Miranda Fricker. The received norm of capable deliberators is connected to a specific model of deliberation. I introduce an alternative model of deliberation, which I dub the joint effort model. According to this model, people with minority minds (as I call them) add valuable cognitive diversity to the process of deliberation, which is a relevant element of epistemic improvement. In this part of the argument I rely on empirically informed theoretical work by Hélène Landemore. I scrutinise the minimal requirements of capable deliberators from the perspective of a joint effort model of deliberation, and I highlight specific beneficial contributions people with minority minds can make to discourse practices. I will argue that people with minority minds can be presumptively deemed capable deliberators and that therefore their general exclusion is unjustified.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Deliberation, justification, deliberative democracy, mental disability, deliberative capacities, epistemic justice, H. Landemore, M. Fricker
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of the Arts
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	21 Jan 2022 09:01
Last Modified:	01 Mar 2026 11:27
DOI:	10.1080/13698230.2021.2020550
Open Access URL:	https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13698...
Related Websites:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3147279
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