The Social Sphere and Communicative Action

Jun 30, 2020

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Part I: Isaiah Berlin's notion of Freedom From/Freedom To and how that relates to the social contract in a way that shows you really are not all that free. Your body and life actually belong to the state, so they can mandate your behavior for the common good.

Part II: Jurgen Habermas syas that many of the Ends/Means problems with Enlightenment Rationality are not considering the balancing effect of the Public Sphere where people follow principles of Communicative Rationality (and Action) to reach agreements. A key tenant is that the person speaking must believe what they say and use rational logic, otherwise the conversation is not worth having.

Part III: Jonathan Haidt discusses how since 2007 (the advent of the like and retweet) that social media became performative public display, not authentic conversations. If this is the new public sphere, then it has been instrumentalized. When presented with new information we have started asking "Do I have to believe this?" with the answer being "no." Thus, there is no longer an agreed upon source for truth.

Part IV: The contradictions inherent to politicized beliefs. When does your Freedom To not wear a mask impinge on someone else's Freedom From disease? Why does belief in God, politics, or your rights as a citizen allow you to harm others? It seems a small thing to ask strong people to moderate their behavior.

(all music courtesy of Ryder's mouth)

The Will to DIY website has references: https://thewilltodiy.com/step-12-the-social-sphere-and-communicative-action/

0:32 A man walks into a bar: I should be "free to" get a drink and "free from" harassment.

4:55 The Social Contract: You are not "free from" being offended... unless you live in a Mad Max world.

6:15 A man walks into a bar, a conversation ensues: how do we handle the drunk guy in the corner?

12:30 A blue donkey walks into a red elephant bar, and gets kicked out. Team identity wins and people lose.

19:32 The last man walks into the bar: he is brave and claims to love his community, so he carries a gun, but won't wear a mask to save those weaker than him.