REASONING

Ideal Speech is a philosophical theory developed by scholar Jurgen Habermas. It is a form of communication that is based on norms of truth, freedom and justice, which underlie the conditions for engaging in understandable and truthful dialogue (Badillo, 1991, p. 19). It requires what we would think of as "fair play" in dialogue. All participants must have equal opportunity to participate. They must have the right to assert, defend or question any factual or normative claim. This discussion must proceed free from accidental or systemic constraints (Badillo, 1991, p. 19). Importantly, ‘the participants in an ideal speech situation must be motivated solely by the desire to reach a consensus about the truth of statements and the validity of norms’ (Bernstein, 1995, p. 50). This paper will seek to answer the question, ‘does ideal speech ever really take place?’ by presenting and analyzing the arguments from both sides of the debate.

This paper holds that ideal speech does not ever really take place. Ideal speech does take place Smith, 2003, interpret Habermas’ ideal speech that as a fact of life, whenever people engage in genuine