Political Corruption as Deformities of Truth
This paper presents a conception of corruption informed by epistemic democratic theory. I first explain the view of corruption as a disease of the political body. Following this view, we have to consider the type of actions that debase a political entity of its constitutive principal in order to ass...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Université de Montréal
2014-01-01
|
| Series: | Les Ateliers de l’Ethique |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1024293ar |
| _version_ | 1811201481140862976 |
|---|---|
| author | Yann Allard-Tremblay |
| author_facet | Yann Allard-Tremblay |
| author_sort | Yann Allard-Tremblay |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper presents a conception of corruption informed by epistemic democratic theory. I first explain the view of corruption as a disease of the political body. Following this view, we have to consider the type of actions that debase a political entity of its constitutive principal in order to assess corruption. Accordingly, we need to consider what the constitutive principle of democracy is. This is the task I undertake in the second section where I explicate democratic legitimacy. I present democracy as a procedure of social inquiry about what ought to be done that includes epistemic and practical considerations. In the third section, I argue that the problem of corruption for a procedural conception of democracy is that the epistemic value of the procedure is diminished by corrupted agents’ lack of concern for truth. Corruption, according to this view, consists in two deformities of truth: lying and bullshit. These deformities corrupt since they conceal private interests under the guise of a concern for truth. In the fourth section, I discuss the difficulties a procedural account may face in formulating solutions to the problem of corruption. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:22:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7abccd9f27064c418b312f1022bba787 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1718-9977 1718-9977 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T02:22:21Z |
| publishDate | 2014-01-01 |
| publisher | Université de Montréal |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Les Ateliers de l’Ethique |
| spelling | doaj.art-7abccd9f27064c418b312f1022bba7872022-12-22T03:52:06ZengUniversité de MontréalLes Ateliers de l’Ethique1718-99771718-99772014-01-01912849http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/1024293arPolitical Corruption as Deformities of TruthYann Allard-Tremblay0Université de MontréalThis paper presents a conception of corruption informed by epistemic democratic theory. I first explain the view of corruption as a disease of the political body. Following this view, we have to consider the type of actions that debase a political entity of its constitutive principal in order to assess corruption. Accordingly, we need to consider what the constitutive principle of democracy is. This is the task I undertake in the second section where I explicate democratic legitimacy. I present democracy as a procedure of social inquiry about what ought to be done that includes epistemic and practical considerations. In the third section, I argue that the problem of corruption for a procedural conception of democracy is that the epistemic value of the procedure is diminished by corrupted agents’ lack of concern for truth. Corruption, according to this view, consists in two deformities of truth: lying and bullshit. These deformities corrupt since they conceal private interests under the guise of a concern for truth. In the fourth section, I discuss the difficulties a procedural account may face in formulating solutions to the problem of corruption.http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1024293arpolitical philosophy |
| spellingShingle | Yann Allard-Tremblay Political Corruption as Deformities of Truth Les Ateliers de l’Ethique political philosophy |
| title | Political Corruption as Deformities of Truth |
| title_full | Political Corruption as Deformities of Truth |
| title_fullStr | Political Corruption as Deformities of Truth |
| title_full_unstemmed | Political Corruption as Deformities of Truth |
| title_short | Political Corruption as Deformities of Truth |
| title_sort | political corruption as deformities of truth |
| topic | political philosophy |
| url | http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1024293ar |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yannallardtremblay politicalcorruptionasdeformitiesoftruth |