What\nis the goal of political conversation? Why should we deliberate with others\nabout politics? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Democratic\ndeliberation is said to benefit people in many ways. For example, it has been\ntouted as a way to produce civic engagement, increase faith in democratic\ninstitutions, encourage a willingness to compromise, and make people better\ncitizens overall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
According\nto John Stuart Mill, deliberating in public about politics is also good for a\ndemocracy because it affords citizens \u201cthe opportunity of exchanging error for\ntruth\u201d (1859: 21). For Mill, deliberation is a vital mechanism through which\nindividuals improve and develop their political ideas, without which their\n\u201cmental development is cramped\u201d (ibid: 39). Many political theorists agree; they\nbelieve that deliberation is an essential way to make people more informed,\nmore rational, and alter their preferences in truth-conducive ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet\nreal life political debates in liberal democracies are often mired in\ncontroversy and grounded in non-rational considerations. The evidential basis\nfor policies is frequently thin, expert opinions are often ignored, and\npolicies can be downright irrational. In addition, a lot of empirical work\nindicates that people become epistemically\nworse<\/em> when they deliberate about political issues. When we talk about\npolitics, we are especially prone to exhibit a host of biases and imperfections\nlike motivated reasoning, selective recall, and identity protection. There is\nalso a sizeable literature, nicely reviewed by Cass Sunstein, indicating that group\ndeliberation leads to polarization. When the typical citizen enters the\npolitical field, it seems their mental performance significantly drops. All\nthis goes against Mill\u2019s optimistic claim that getting us involved in politics\nwould make us smarter and nobler. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In\nlight of this, a rather obvious question is: should we deliberate with others\nabout politics? I want to suggest that an important goal of democratic\ndeliberation ought to be the empathetic\nunderstanding of others<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nrole of empathy is largely neglected in studies of deliberation. But in today\u2019s\npolitical climate, empathetic understanding is perhaps more vital than ever. We\noften hear people say things like \u201cI can\u2019t understand why anyone would even think<\/em> about voting for Brexit\u201d or \u201cI\ndon\u2019t understand \u2018Black Lives Matter\u2019. Don\u2019t all<\/em> lives matter?\u201d Citizens are increasingly polarized and political\nopponents hold highly unfavorable views of each other; indeed, they often\nregard each other as immoral, stupid, lazy, and even threats to each other\u2019s\nway of life. We characterize others simplistically, without any appreciation\nfor the nuance or depth of their views, and others do the same to us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A\nconsequence is that we are unable to cooperate and work towards common goals.\nIt is for this reason that mutual understanding is deeply important. Too often\npolitical opponents do not even try <\/em>to\nunderstand each other, instead opting for cynicism and contempt. But this lack\nof understanding makes it difficult for us to pursue collective goods. We\ncannot accomplish anything if we despise each other, refuse to listen, are too\noverconfident, and lose our willingness to reach a compromise. We must change\nour basic attitudes towards each other in order to find the common ground on\nwhich collective flourishing depends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n To\nunderstand others, we need to empathize with their thinking. This requires, for\na start, that we be willing to listen to each other. More than this, however,\nit requires the ability to \u201ctake up\u201d another person\u2019s perspective\u2014to see the\nworld from his or her point of view. For example, we might wonder why Harris\nvoted for Trump. To understand why he voted for Trump, we need to identify what\nHarris took to be desirable or choiceworthy about his goal. In addition,\nempathetic understanding requires the ability to recognize Harris\u2019s goal as a good<\/em> (from his point of view). Failing\nthat, his actions may be unintelligible to us. As Atticus Finch says in To Kill a Mockingbird<\/em>, \u201cYou never really\nunderstand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . .\nuntil you climb into his skin and walk around in it\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The classical Aristotelian\ndefinition of deliberation is: \u201can exchange of arguments for or against\nsomething\u201d (Aristotle, Rhetoric, I, 2). It involves weighing the available\ndata, arguing about relevance and worthiness, and then choosing the best policy\nor person. But too much focus on rational argument may actually prevent us from\nachieving a deep understanding of each other. When political discourse aims to\npersuade others, we often become further entrenched in our views and are\nepistemically worse off as a result. If we start by trying to understand each\nother, rather than to convince one another, then we are more likely to\nappreciate various conceptions of the good life. As Catherine Elgin nicely puts\nit, \u201cRather than seeing those who disagree with us as opponents, we should see\nthem as potential allies who, by envisioning things differently, extend our\nepistemic range\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is not to say that empathetic\nunderstanding requires us to change our opinions or to stop disagreeing with\nthose we seek to understand. We might continue to disagree, but at least we\nwould understand each other better; and this may help us work together. In\ncontrast, misunderstanding\ncan lead to cynicism and contempt for others, which is part of what causes\npolarization. We must overcome our feelings of moral condemnation and moral\nsuperiority\u2014to understand others rather than just deplore them. The democratic attitude requires\nthis imaginative capacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Picture source: Jonathan Sharp on Unsplash<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What is the goal of political conversation? Why should we deliberate with others about politics? Democratic deliberation is said to benefit people in many ways. For example, it has been […]","protected":false},"author":1319,"featured_media":619,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Empathetic Understanding in Politics by Michael Hannon","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19],"tags":[167,92,7],"custom_author":[166],"class_list":["post-618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-open-for-debate","tag-deliberation","tag-empathy","tag-politics","custom_author-hannon-michael"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8KPlM-9Y","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1625,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/truth-and-the-facebookians\/","url_meta":{"origin":618,"position":0},"title":"Truth and the Facebookians","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"February 6, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Imagine a community\u2014call them the \u201cFacebookians\u201d\u2014whose politics is deeply polarized. Their political discourse reflects this divisiveness, but to a very unusual extent. For in making political claims, Facebookians are guided by just one rule: only say (or post) what is liked by your friends and which you are willing defend\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Open for Debate"","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Neon sign with zero \"likes\"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2023\/02\/prateek-katyal-xv7-GlvBLFw-unsplash.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2023\/02\/prateek-katyal-xv7-GlvBLFw-unsplash.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2023\/02\/prateek-katyal-xv7-GlvBLFw-unsplash.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2023\/02\/prateek-katyal-xv7-GlvBLFw-unsplash.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2023\/02\/prateek-katyal-xv7-GlvBLFw-unsplash.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2023\/02\/prateek-katyal-xv7-GlvBLFw-unsplash.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":793,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/how-to-build-a-safer-internet\/","url_meta":{"origin":618,"position":1},"title":"How To Build A Safer Internet","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"November 18, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this year, the UK government consulted on an Online Harms White Paper that proposes a new model of social media regulation. The response to the consultation was lukewarm at best, and a consistent theme is that the white paper lacks a robust theoretical underpinning. The Carnegie UK Trust identify\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Open for Debate"","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/11\/blog-header.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/11\/blog-header.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/11\/blog-header.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/11\/blog-header.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/11\/blog-header.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":921,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/ethicists-hold-your-horses-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":618,"position":2},"title":"Ethicists, hold your horses (Part 2)","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"June 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Fleur Jongepier\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Karin Jongsma In Part 1 we have argued that it\u2019s better if ethicists do not publish their takes on triage at this moment. A democratic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Open for Debate"","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2020\/05\/lego.2_0_image003-300x169.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2119,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/how-should-we-live-our-intellectual-lives\/","url_meta":{"origin":618,"position":3},"title":"How should we lead our intellectual lives?","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"October 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This question has long preoccupied philosophers, but has recently taken on greater public urgency in response to fears about misinformation, disinformation, bullshit, tribalism, and other perceived epistemic threats. One answer to this question is that we should live our intellectual lives the same way we should live our ethical lives:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Open for Debate"","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2024\/10\/Open-for-Debate-image_beehive_Bland.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2024\/10\/Open-for-Debate-image_beehive_Bland.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2024\/10\/Open-for-Debate-image_beehive_Bland.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2024\/10\/Open-for-Debate-image_beehive_Bland.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2024\/10\/Open-for-Debate-image_beehive_Bland.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2281,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/how-distant-can-conspiracy-theories-be-from-democracy\/","url_meta":{"origin":618,"position":4},"title":"How distant can conspiracy theories be from democracy?","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"June 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Imagine you are the leader of a democratic, liberal, prestigious, \u201cold\u201d party in a Western democracy of our time. We might bet that, if you held such a position, the burden of responsibility would feel particularly heavy on your shoulders: a significant portion of your former voters is flying to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Open for Debate"","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2025\/06\/clark-young-Qtbx4j4UjRg-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2025\/06\/clark-young-Qtbx4j4UjRg-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2025\/06\/clark-young-Qtbx4j4UjRg-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2025\/06\/clark-young-Qtbx4j4UjRg-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2025\/06\/clark-young-Qtbx4j4UjRg-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2025\/06\/clark-young-Qtbx4j4UjRg-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":679,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/what-polarization-does-to-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":618,"position":5},"title":"What Polarization Does to Us","author":"Alessandra Tanesini","date":"May 30, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Commentators from across the political spectrum warn us that extreme partisan polarization is dissolving all bases for political cooperation, thereby undermining our democracy.\u00a0 The near total consensus on this point is suspicious.\u00a0 A recent Pew study finds that although citizens want politicians to compromise more, they tend to blame only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Open for Debate"","block_context":{"text":"Open for Debate","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/category\/open-for-debate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/05\/blindfold.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/05\/blindfold.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/05\/blindfold.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/05\/blindfold.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/05\/blindfold.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/05\/blindfold.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"meta_box":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/533\/2019\/02\/jonathan-sharp-1096746-unsplash-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1319"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":623,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618\/revisions\/623"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/619"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618"},{"taxonomy":"custom_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/openfordebate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/custom_author?post=618"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}