ABSTRACT
Under the banner of the “epistemological crisis,” one can find a broad concern for the ways that we are, or may be, losing the ability to collectively engage in meaningful and productive deliberation, given the threats of various polarization effects. One such concern is the very success of democratic decision-making, since, plausibly, its success depends on the nature and quality of the communication that takes place within democratic societies.
The focus of social-epistemic discussion about public discourse has tended to address speakers, for example, their dispositions, their obligations, and their relative social power. Comparatively, there is very little work on listening and public discourse. This is an important gap because, of course, communication does not take place without listening.
I argue that many proposals for addressing the epistemological crisis via public discourse are already committed to the idea that we have listening obligations. It is proposed that we have a duty to develop our listening competence – our skills as listeners. Given the nature of this competence, I propose that meeting this obligation requires both individual and collective action that can be met through, amongst other things, education.
The proposal fits well with existing and early accounts of the relationship between the classroom and liberal democratic organization. And, further, it is in line with the view proposed by critical pedagogists who take a similar position on the relationship between classroom structure and practice and the success of a liberal democratic society.
