The Right to Dissent: The Critical Principle in Discourse Ethics and Deliberative Democracy

The right to dissent includes both the right to speak of what is right and wrong and the moral obligation to give good reasons for a particular statement. In a modern democratic society the right to dissent is one of the most fundamental rights. Inherent in the right to dissent, we find the paradoxical morality of modern society, which consists of a critical assessment of what should be deemed right or wrong. The right to dissent has to be secured through the civil rights of participation i...