Abstract

Theories of democracy contain unnoticed assumptions about the nature of the self and of communication which result in their transformation into authoritarian theories. An examination of these assumptions yields the possibility of a non-authoritarian theory of political action. Such a theory requires a conjunct theory of self which allows for a procession of multiple concrete selves. ;In the dissertation I show certain historical relations of particular theories of self and of communication to particular democratic theories based on shared assumptions and criticize the hierarchical nature of ensuing theories of action; I discuss possible democratic theories that might result from the construction of theories grounded in conceptions of self and of communication that have not been seen as conjunct with particular political philosophies ; and, finally, I construct a theory of self having the necessary assumptions to produce a non-authoritarian theory of concrete political action