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"For centuries thinkers have assumed that the uniquely human capacity for reasoning has existed to let people reach beyond mere perception and reflex in the search for truth. Rationality allowed a solitary thinker to blaze a path to philosophical, moral and scientific enlightenment.

"The global trend toward democratization of the last two decades has been accompanied by the resurgence of various politics of "identity/difference." From nationalist and ethnic revivals in the countries of east and central Europe to the former Soviet Union, to the politics of cultural separatism in Canada, and to social movement politics in liberal western-democracies, the negotiation of identity/difference has become a challenge to democracies everywhere. This volume brings together a group of distinguished thinkers who rearticulate and reconsider the foundations of democratic theory and practice in the light of the politics of identity/difference.\nIn Part One Jürgen Habermas, Sheldon S. Wolin, Jane Mansbridge, Seyla Benhabib, Joshua Cohen, and Iris Marion Young write on democratic theory. Part Two--on equality, difference, and public representation--contains essays by Anne Phillips, Will Kymlicka, Carol C. Gould, Jean L. Cohen, and Nancy Fraser; and Part Three--on culture, identity, and democracy--by Chantal Mouffe, Bonnie Honig, Fred Dallmayr, Joan B. Landes, and Carlos A. Forment. In the last section Richard Rorty, Robert A. Dahl, Amy Gutmann, and Benjamin R. Barber write on whether democracy needs philosophical foundations.\nThis is an excellent yext for someone interested in models of the public sphere. While all the authors are proponents of the deliberative model of democracy (as opposed to, for instance, the liberal, interest-based, technocratic, communitarian, or civic-republican) many of them place their arguments in the context of other models. So, the book reads like a symposium of like-minded people, rather than like a rally of true believers.\nAlmost all of the essays are accessible to a generalist, but several really stand out (especially those by Benhabib, Fraser, and Young)."

"September 1, 2014 · by Andrew Reitemeyer · in Tips & Tricks Logical fallacies are techniques that people use to make an argument appear convincing even when it is wrong. Learning how to identify and refute logical fallacies is one of the best ways to win in a discussion. "

"Democracy is great -- except when it isn't. The open source world is full of minute arguments and points of difference. Snap might just solve some of that."

ahh! you beat me to it, read this yesterday and was on my list.. thx

well, I can tell from experience that the " "wibble-wobble method" works just fine (did with me as with my own youngsters). true enough, training wheels make it easy, however in the long run the ingrained habit of micro-steering as a way of enhancing one's capability to overcome apparent obstacles and innovate in and with the chaotic flow of events is quite the advantage.

There were no training wheels when I learned to ride a bike in AR - you learned or fell off - and, everyone that I knew learned on their own without any problems at all. Training wheels and the "wibble-wobble method" are manifestations of our over-protective (well-meaning, of course!) nature with our children from the 70s, 80s and 90s and now ... I used training wheels with my son until he insisted that I take them off, so he could ride like the other kids in the neighborhood that were younger and used no training wheels and rode better than he did. I'm encouraged by that recollection (if I remember it correctely? lol) to believe that training wheels are a bit of a waste of time and that the "wibble-wobble method" or other 'throw-in-th'-mix-and-see-what-happens' would serve the person better. Micro-steering must be learned no matter what at some point - the subtly of the motion of a bike require it.