Die Krise Der Offentlichen Vernunft

The new book by the theologian and philosopher of religion Ingolf U. Dalferth addresses the threat to democracy in Western societies. This is exemplified by the crisis of public reason, which shows that deliberative democracy in Habermas's sense has arguably always been a social fiction. The Internet and social media are undermining the political public sphere. Sentiments and emotions supplant arguments, equality and justice become empty populist phrases, and critical judgement recedes or is vilified. Profound deliberation in civil society is becoming increasingly difficult, not least because of the rise of right-wing and left-wing identity politics. Religion withers to a moral resource, and God is banished from the public sphere. Dalferth's nuanced discussion of these topics stands in a radical democratic bracket: in critical restraint towards what is based on principles and dogma. Democracy thrives on contradiction and the right to live differently within the framework of the applicable law, yet also obliges each to be respectful of others. Whoever wants to decide how one ought to speak and live or which arguments ought to be given a hearing in public do not understand that, without freedom, there is neither equality nor justice. And recourse to God is not a remnant of a pre-democratic past, but the constant reminder of what makes freedom, equality and justice possible.