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I. Introduction I. Introduction
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II. Democracy as a Voting Rule: Three Concerns II. Democracy as a Voting Rule: Three Concerns
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III. Is Democracy “Rational”? III. Is Democracy “Rational”?
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IV. Autonomy and Democracy IV. Autonomy and Democracy
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V. Why Not Epistocracy? V. Why Not Epistocracy?
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VI. Conclusion VI. Conclusion
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Notes Notes
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Bibliography Bibliography
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42 Virtue Epistemology and the Democratic Life
Get accessColin Farrelly is Professor and Queen’s National Scholar in the Department of Political Studies at Queen’s University. Previous appointments include Visiting Professor in the Department of Public Policy at the University of California–Los Angeles, Research Fellow at Oxford University, and positions at Waterloo, Manchester, Birmingham, and Aberdeen Universities. Colin’s research interests including political theory, ethics, and bioethics. His book publications include Biologically Modified Justice (Cambridge University Press, 2016), Justice Democracy and Reasonable Agreement (Palgrave, 2007), and the co-edited volume (with Lawrence Solum) Virtue Jurisprudence (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). Colin is currently writing a textbook on genetics and ethics (forthcoming with Polity Press) that employs a virtue ethics analysis of the genetic revolution. His articles have appeared in journals in philosophy, political science, medicine, gerontology, law, science, and bioethics.
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Published:06 December 2017
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Abstract
Integrating insights from the Ancient Greeks (e.g. concerning virtue, eudaimonia, and the original meaning of “democracy”), John Dewey, and recent work in virtue epistemology, this chapter develops a virtue-based defense of democracy, one that conceives of democracy as an inquiry-based mode of social existence. This account of democracy is developed by responding to three common concerns raised against democracy, which the author calls the Irrationality Problem, the Problem of Autonomy, and the Epistocracy Objection. Virtue epistemology can help elucidate the link between democracy and human flourishing by drawing attention to democracy’s potential for cultivating and refining the “intellectual virtues” (e.g. intellectual humility, fairness in evaluating the arguments of others, the social virtue of being communicative, etc.) constitutive of the good life.
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