Is Deliberative Democracy an adaptive political theory? A critical analysis of Mercier’s Argumentative Theory of Reasoning

Abstract

Moral psychology has devalued the role of reasoning in moral life. Nevertheless, the Argumentative Theory of Reasoning (ATR) is a proposal of evolutionary psychology that vindicates the effectiveness of reasoning in communicative processes. This theory even defends its convergence with deliberative democracy. And yet, we hold that the ATR is unsuccessful when supplying a psychological basis for deliberative democracy. The ATR does not adequately explain the epistemic value of deliberation in a way that is congruous with deliberative democracy. To conclude, we will present other shortcomings of the ATR in its concept of reasoning.