A HYPOCRITICAL STAGE? DEMOCRACY: BETWEEN LITTLE COUNTERVAILING LIES AND HALF-TRUTHS

Year 2019, Issue: 28, 439 - 451, 29.12.2019

Önder Özden

Abstract

In this paper I try to discuss a peculiar understanding of democracy’s
relation to mendacity. According to this reading, democracy is its best when it
is located between “little countervailing lies and half-truths” and the main
threat to democracy comes from our strong feeling of sincere politics. I will be
claiming that this line of argument depicts a certain type of political actor and
divides democratic politics into two separate domains. As a result, I argue that
conceptualizing democracy depending on a middle ground between “little
countervailing lies and half-truths”, disregards the problem of trust, which is a
crucial social bond and, depicts a political sphere which is unburdened from
moral constraints. And, eventually, it ends up being a version of political
realism. 

Keywords

Mendacity, Sincerity, Democracy, Political Actor, Hypocrisy, Socratic Citizen

İKİYÜZLÜ BİR SAHNE: DEMOKRASİ; ‘UFAK TELAFİ EDİCİ YALANLAR VE YARI GERÇEKLER’ ARASINDA

Abstract

Bu yazıda, demokrasinin siyasal yalanla olan ilişkisine dair özgün bir anlayışa değinilmeye çalışılmıştır. Bu okumaya göre, demokrasi “ufak telafi edici yalanlar ve yarı gerçekler” arasında yer aldığında en iyi durumdadır ve demokrasiye yönelik en büyük tehdit samimiyete olan güçlü hislerimizden kaynaklanmaktadır. Bu argümanın, belli bir tür siyasi aktör profili resmettiği ve demokratik siyaseti iki ayrı alana böldüğü iddia edilmiştir. Sonuç olarak, demokrasiyi “ufak telafi edici yalanlar ve yarı gerçekler” arasındaki orta alan üzerinden kavramsallaştırmanın, çok önemli sosyal bir bağ olan güveni göz ardı ettiği ve ahlaki kısıtlamalardan muaf bir siyasal alan resmettiği savunulmuştur. Ve nihayetinde bu anlayışın, siyasal gerçekçiliğin bir yönü olmanın ötesine geçemediği öne sürülmüştür.

Keywords

Siyasal yalan, Samimiyet, Demokrasi, Siyasal Aktör, İkiyüzlülük, Sokratik Yurttaş

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