Reasonable individuals often share a rationale for a decision but, in other cases, they make
the same decision based on disparate and often incompat ible rationales. The social …

What sorts of reasons are i) required and ii) morally acceptable when citizens in a pluralist
liberal democracy undertake to resolve pressing political issues? This paper presents and …

Rawls's “public reason” has not been without its critics. One criticism is that public reason is
“conservative.” Public reason must rely on those beliefs that are “widely shared” among …

Public reason liberalism is a family of theories according to which liberal po litical
institutions, social structures, and/or basic social rules are politically or morally justified if and …

John Rawls's A Theory of Justice1 marks a pivotal turning point in the most recent history of
practical philosophy, for he restored long-suppressed moral questions to the status of …

John Rawls's discussion of public reason is an important, original feature of his expanded
vision of a liberal society. In Political Liberalism Rawls is concerned not only with the …

The concept of reasonableness has occupied a prominent place in the history of liberal
thought. Indeed, it has been argued that “public reasonableness is at the centre of …

This article is a contribution to a critical exploration of the liberal project of normatively
justifying basic political principles. The specific focus is John Rawls's use of the idea of …

Under free institutions the exercise of human reason leads to a plurality of reasonable, yet
irreconcilable doctrines. Rawls's political liberalism is intended as a response to this …

The idea of public reason is at the center of John Rawls's political philosophy. Public reason
is a standard by which we measure laws and political institutions. This chapter discusses the …