ON UNDERSTANDING WITHOUT AGREEMENT: LESZEK KOCZANOWICZ'S CONCEPT OF THE POLITICS OF DIALOGUE Cover Image

O ROZUMIENIU BEZ POROZUMIENIA. LESZKA KOCZANOWICZA KONCEPCJA POLITYKI DIALOGU
ON UNDERSTANDING WITHOUT AGREEMENT: LESZEK KOCZANOWICZ'S CONCEPT OF THE POLITICS OF DIALOGUE

Author(s): Małgorzata Borkowska-Nowak
Subject(s): Political Philosophy, Social Philosophy, History and theory of political science
Published by: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
Keywords: dialogue; democracy; understanding; agreement; models of democracy;

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to analyze Leszek Koczanowicz's concept of the politics of dialogue in terms of assessing the usefulness of the category of dialogue to create an alternative to two opposing models of democracy: deliberation in the version proposed by Jürgen Habermas and hegemony (radical democracy) developed by Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. Referring to American pragmatism and Mikhail Bakhtin's theory, i.e. the theories that place dialogue and communication at the center of the social world, Koczanowicz concludes that due to the indelibility of antagonism from social life and politics, the measure of the value of dialogue is not so much achieving consensus (which is not always possible), but broadening the horizon of mutual understanding by the parties to the dialogue. Such an approach reveals a normative dimension to democracy, which is not only a system securing the sovereignty of the people, but also a struggle to maintain understanding among people.

  • Issue Year: 38/2025
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 324-343
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Polish
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