Post-truth politics influences and challenges democracies around the world. Yet, influential political theories like Habermas’s seem unequipped to deal with it, as they are based on the premise...Show morePost-truth politics influences and challenges democracies around the world. Yet, influential political theories like Habermas’s seem unequipped to deal with it, as they are based on the premise that power is necessarily truth-sensitive. In this thesis I have confronted post-truth politics, defined as the phenomenon in which discourses that are unconcerned with truth still are power-bestowing, with Habermas' theory of communicative action. In doing so, I argue that that there is power beyond (reference to) truth. The everyday phenomenon of post-truth discourses is thus used to assess the implicit premises in our thinking, so that eventually better solutions to deal with the problems of post-truth politics can be found.Show less
Martha Nussbaum provides with her capabilities approach some interesting ideas that might improve the current human rights doctrine substantially. However, Charles Beitz – who bases his practical...Show moreMartha Nussbaum provides with her capabilities approach some interesting ideas that might improve the current human rights doctrine substantially. However, Charles Beitz – who bases his practical conception on the existing human rights practices – questions if the capabilities approach can adequately cope with feasibility constraints. In this thesis, I will examine the relation of capabilities and human rights, and argue that the capabilities approach can account for Beitz’s feasibility-concerns. In addition, I will suggest that Beitz places feasibility constraints too central in his theory, and incorrectly assumes his practice-based method does not need a normative basis.Show less
