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Epilogue

“Depth Skepticism” and the Roots of Democratic Crisis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2025

Yaron Ezrahi
Affiliation:
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Dana Blander
Affiliation:
Israel Democracy Institute
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Summary

Blander’s epilogue contextualizes Ezrahi’s current work within his previous research corpus as well as interweaving new concepts: depth skepticism, modest democracy, and the right to dream. Blander describes three spheres of democratic backsliding and the rise of populism: legal-institutional, social, and intellectual freedom. She suggests that Ezrahi introduces a deep explanation of these troubling trends. Blander introduces the concept of “Depth Skepticism,” which applies to philosophers, among them Ezrahi, who searched for deeper layers of the human experience in order to identify the causes of sociopolitical phenomena. The epilogue follows Ezrahi’s intellectual journey, identifying a connecting thread from his early work “The Descent of Icarus,” revealing the interaction between science, enlightenment, and democracy through “Imagined Democracies,” portraying the role of science in creating the epistemological foundations of modern democracy, to the current volume introducing the cosmological shift from Nature/Culture to a blurred “HumaNature” cosmology and how it affects democratic foundations. This shift calls for a “modest democracy” that accommodates reason, emotions, and ambivalence. It views democracy as a constructive utopia, allowing individuals and groups the “right to dream” within nonviolent pursuits. This democracy fosters compromise, balances power, and tolerates contradictions, embodying a constant state of becoming.

Type
Chapter
Information
Can Democracy Recover?
The Roots of a Crisis
, pp. 213 - 238
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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  • Epilogue
  • Yaron Ezrahi, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • Edited by Dana Blander, Israel Democracy Institute
  • Book: Can Democracy Recover?
  • Online publication: 02 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009350907.027
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Epilogue
  • Yaron Ezrahi, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • Edited by Dana Blander, Israel Democracy Institute
  • Book: Can Democracy Recover?
  • Online publication: 02 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009350907.027
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Epilogue
  • Yaron Ezrahi, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
  • Edited by Dana Blander, Israel Democracy Institute
  • Book: Can Democracy Recover?
  • Online publication: 02 January 2025
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009350907.027
Available formats
×