Is symbolic mediation inevitably linked to the human ability to know the world? Can understanding be only indirect? As the complexity of social systems increases, does the level of mediation differ further? This research work reconstructs the way in which Walter Lippmann tries to answer the previous questions. In Public Opinion (Lippmann 1922), the author presents mediation as an inevitable destiny, continuing the philosophical tradition started by Plato. But can mediation be governed without compromising the fate of democracies? In The Public Philosophy (Lippmann 1955), the author trusts in the role of the intellectual as the intermediary of a universal public philosophy.
Parole chiave: public philosophy, mediation, stereotype, intellectual, public opinion
