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As you already know, Kant's ethical theory is a formal theory because it doesn't give

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you the rules.

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It just gives you the right way to make autonomously your own rules.

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Let me give you today another example of a very interesting formal ethical theory.

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It was created by Habermas, a contemporary German philosopher, and it is called the dialogue

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ethics or the discourse ethics.

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Habermas is interested in inventing a correct way to make rules for society, which is the right

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procedure to make our norms, to make our laws, to make our rules of behavior in a group. He thinks

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that the right way is dialogue, negotiation. So he invites everyone that is interested or

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affected by the rules that we're going to create, to participate in a dialogue in order to create

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the rules negotiating. In order to do this, everybody must be free to participate, to talk,

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to express their opinions, without threats, without restrictions, without the use of force.

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This is what Habermas calls an ideal community of dialogue.

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An ideal community of dialogue is a group of people that can talk, negotiate and discuss without restrictions, without limits, without the use of force, just respecting each other, listening to each other.

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Habermas was convinced that if we are able to develop an ideal community of dialogue, negotiating our rules,

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then we could make rules that are fair and that are acceptable by everybody.

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Then he thought that rules are valid if they are done following this imperative.

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make rules that are accepted by everybody who has participated in creating them in an ideal

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community of dialogue. If the rules we have made are agreed upon everyone, then they are acceptable.

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It is important here that you notice the word everyone.

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Everyone must agree on the rules in order for them to be acceptable and valid.

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If there is a group of people or someone that disagrees, then for them the rules are not okay.

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So this is not about voting the rules and passing the rules that have the majority of votes.

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Because if we do that, there might be a group of people that disagree with them.

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What Habermas is telling us is that we must make rules that have been discussed, negotiated,

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and after a long process where everybody could freely talk, have been agreed upon.

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If everybody agrees, everybody agrees, then the rules can be considered accepted.