Philosopher's Zone The contradictions of democracy
Oct 27, 2025
Michael Furstein, Professor of Philosophy at St. Olaf College and author of *Experiments in Living Together*, explores the complex interplay between democracy and social progress. He discusses how democracy serves as an experiment in moral cognition, emphasizing the roles of social environments in shaping empathy. Furstein highlights the swift moral changes around same-sex marriage and the historical milestones of the gay rights movement. He also addresses the vulnerabilities of democracy, emphasizing the importance of community-building to combat polarization.
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Democracy As Social Experimentation
- Democracy succeeds when people can experiment with new ways of living together and learn from those experiments.
- Michael Furstein ties this experimental ethic to Deweyan pragmatism as a method for social learning.
Moral Cognition Requires Heart And Head
- Moral cognition blends reasoning and feeling, so democratic progress needs both empathy and rational debate.
- Furstein argues improving background conditions of moral thought lets people care about others' interests.
How Gay Rights Became Mainstream
- Furstein traces the US gay rights movement from Mattachine and Stonewall to cultural normalization and Obergefell v. Hodges.
- He highlights the AIDS crisis and media representation as catalysts that humanized gay people and shifted opinion.
