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This book defends a radical view: the word 'democracy' means nothing and should be abandoned. According to the abolitionist, the switch to alternative devices would be a significant communicative, cognitive, and political advance, enabling us to ask better questions, provide genuinely fruitful answers, and have more rational discussions.
List of contents
- Preface and Acknowledgements
- Part I: A Theory of Abandonment
- 1: Introduction
- 2: Arguments for Abandonment
- 3: Abandonment compared to Elimination, Reduction, Replacement, and Amelioration
- 4: Abandonment and Communication
- Part II: Some Data about 'Democracy'
- 5: The Ordinary Notion of 'Democracy': Methodological Preamble
- 6: Some Data about 'Democracy' and 'Democratic'
- Part III: Abandonment of 'Democracy'?
- 7: Problems with 'Democracy'
- 8: Better than 'Democracy': A Chapter of Good Cheers
- 9: Consequences of Abandoning 'Democracy'
- Part IV: Democracy Ameliorated
- 10: Ameliorations of 'Democracy'
- 11: Verbal Disputes about 'Democracy'
- Part V: Efforts to Defend Democracy
- 12: Objections and Replies
- Bibliography
About the author
Herman Cappelen is a Chair Professor at the University of Hong Kong, the Co-Director of ConceptLab-HK, and the Director of AI&Humanity-Lab. He works in all areas of systematic philosophy and has written 10 monographs and many influential papers.
Summary
This book defends a radical view: the word 'democracy' means nothing and should be abandoned. According to the abolitionist, the switch to alternative devices would be a significant communicative, cognitive, and political advance, enabling us to ask better questions, provide genuinely fruitful answers, and have more rational discussions.
Additional text
Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.
