Displaying, not debating: The principle of expression as debate ideal

Abstract

Abstract:

Public debate is commonly understood as deliberation; as the weighing of arguments for and against choices of future action. A principle of deliberation entails that interlocutors approach one another through argumentation in favour and against a given point of view. In this article, I outline a competing debate ideal: the principle of expression. According to this ideal, public debate must be understood not as an exchange, but rather a display of opinions. The views voiced in the public debate should be seen as purely expressive: They arise out of the individual’s inviolable interiority and are expressions of who one «truly» is. Therefore, argumentation is neither required nor legitimate. In the article, I outline the principle of expression, discuss its development and the implications it has for the democratic public debate. I do so, by drawing on a case study of a particularly scolded arena for public debate, namely the comment fields in social media. I argue that social media is a vehicle for the principle of expression. At the same time, I argue, that the celebration of the subjective expression must be understood as a consequence of more wide-ranging cultural tendencies in society.