Workshop on factual disagreement and political legitimacy

It will hardly have escaped many people’s attention that liberal democracies face serious disagreements over vital matters of facts. Among the most debated and important topics are the clashes about the existence and causes of the climate changes and the controversies between supporters of Intelligent Design theory and thoseof Darwinian evolution. Such factual disagreements are not just of scientific interest. Since political decisions very often rest on assumptions about non-normative facts, political justification also depends – quite trivially – on whether we get the facts right. But how shall we proceed when non- normative factual disagreements of political relevance are persistent? How should the concern for legitimacy apply to disagreements about non-normative factual matters, or more accurately; to disagreements about policies that trace back to disagreement(s) about non-normative factual questions?

Confirmed speakers:

Fabienne Peter (University of Warwick)
Kasper Lippert-Rasmussen (Aarhus University)
Cathrine Holst (University of Oslo)
Klemens Kappel (University of Copenhagen)
Sune Lægaard (Roskilde University)

Location:

The workshop will take place at Department of Media, Cognition, and Communication, Karen Blixens Vej 4, 2300 Copenhagen S.

Attendance is free but please contact us also if you are planning to attend without presenting a paper.

Contact (also for further information):

Martin Marchman Andersen, [email protected]