ABSTRACT
Democratic citizenship involves two broad moral directives. First, citizens must strive to advance justice by participating in the democratic process. Second, as democratic citizens are political equals, they are also accountable to one another. When they disagree about politics, they must listen to one another, give their opponents a hearing, and recognize their entitlement to an equal political say. In the fray of real-world politics, treating one's opponents as one's equals seems to concede something to their views. And this contradicts the first directive. Hence, politically engaged citizens face a quandary: When the political chips are down, why not treat one's opponents as enemies rather than fellow citizens? This chapter draws upon empirical results concerning belief polarization to propose a political epistemic rationale for the moral requirement to treat our political opponents as our equals. Roughly put, to sustain the epistemic conditions under which one can pursue justice with political allies, one needs to maintain civil relations with one's political enemies.
