Democracy and Philosophy: Does Democracy need Foundations?

Abstract

Were it not for the work or Richard Rorty, we probably would not be addressing the question of whether democracy needs foundations. We cannot adequately answer the foundationalist question without first asking the justificatory one: How is democracy best defended? When we answer the justificatory question, however, the foundational question becomes moot. Democracy needs justifications, not foundations, at least not foundations in the strict sense suggested by Rorty and other anti-foundationalists. If we cannot justify democracy, then neither can we know what kind of democracy is worth defending. If we can justify democracy, then we should not worry about whether our justification is, in the strict sense, foundationalist. Justifications need not be foundationalist or antifoundationalist. I will first suggest some reasons why this is so, and then briefly sketch a justification of deliberative democracy that is neither foundationalist nor anti-foundationalist.