杜威与李普曼“公众”之争的启示

What Enlightenment Leaves us by Looking back the Debate of Dewey and Lippmann

20世纪早期杜威与李普曼就公众和民主问题进行了争论。前者认为,作为有机体成员的个体在有组织的情况下可以形成积极的公众并对现代民主的健康运行发挥作用;而后者则认为,公众基于自身的原因是容易被操纵的,而且公众只是一种幻影,对于民主来说公众只有作为消极力量才能起到作用。从这一认知出发,前者的民主观内涵丰富且充满理想色彩,而后者则主张精英政治,要求严格地限制公众的活动。

In the early 20th century,there was a debate between John Dewey and Walter Lippmann over the public and democracy.The former believes,as a membership belonged to the organic,an individual may manage a positive public,and play an positive role in a modern society.The latter,however,argues that the public is merely some phantom,easily manipulated by some leaders.Thus,only as a kind of negative power can ordinary people play some unimportant role by joining in the democratic procedure.Based on those,Dewey＇s democratic conception has complicate content and ideal meaning,and the latter prefers to the politics of elite and asks for limiting the activity of the publics.