For the past decades, philosophers have continuously investigated what is called ‘deep disagreement’, which are disagreements over important subjects and embedded in complex contexts. In his dissertation, Hugo Ribeiro Mota proposes a novel way of understanding deep disagreements which aims to improve the applicability of the concept to actual social and political conflicts without resorting to problematic oversimplifications.
Throughout the dissertation, Mota analyzes the philosophical debate over deep disagreements and identifies two problematic assumptions underpinning it, namely, they overemphasize the epistemic aspects of deep disagreement, and overfocus on the idea that a successful outcome of a deep disagreement has to be rational resolution. He points out that, in virtue of adopting these two assumptions, the existing literature falls short when trying to explain real life examples of deep disagreement.
In order to address this shortcoming, Mota proposes a shift which highlights the significance of political, social, psychological, and material aspects of the disagreement. This shift results in the development of a multi-dimensional model of deep disagreements which takes into account the fact that power structures may undermine much of the basis for establishing dialogue. For this reason, the model also provides a broader understanding of the communicative practices involved in deep disagreements.
Hugo Mota succesfully defended his thesis on 19 February 2025.
Trial lecture
Designated topic: "What is disagreement?"
Evaluation committee
- Assistant Professor Chris Ranalli, VU Amsterdam (first opponent)
- Assistant Professor Cat Saint-Croix, University of Minnesota (second opponent)
- Professor Sebastian Watzl, University of Oslo (committee administrator)
Chair of the defence
- Senior Lecturer Eirik Welo
Supervisors
- Senior Lecturer Joey Pollock, University of Oslo
- Professor Catarina Dutilh Novaes, VU Amsterdam