Democracy as Public Deliberation and the Psychology of Epistemological World Views and Moral Reasoning

A Philosophical Reflection

Abstract

The four articles in this special issue on democracy and citizenship highlight the fundamental importance of the internal capabilities and sentiments of democratic citizens as necessary conditions for participation in public deliberation. The articles uncover and examine the complex and nuanced interrelationship between moral reasoning schema andcapacity, moral  behavior, political participation, affect, imagination, and epistemologicalworld views (beliefs, understandings, personal  epistemologies), as well as their potential development through transformative, inquiry-based, dialogical pedagogical approaches.