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Rawls' idea of public reason and democratic legitimacy
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Peter, Fabienne (2007) Rawls' idea of public reason and democratic legitimacy. Politics and Ethics Review, Vol.3 (No.1). pp. 129-143. doi:10.3366/per.2007.3.1.129 ISSN 1755-0882.
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.3366/per.2007.3.1.129
Abstract
Critics and defenders of Rawls’ idea of public reason have tended to neglect the relationship between this idea and his conception of democratic legitimacy. I shall argue that Rawls’ idea of public reason can be interpreted
in two different ways, and that the two interpretations support two different conceptions of legitimacy. What I call the substantive interpretation of Rawls’ idea of public reason demands that it applies not just to the process of democratic decision-making, but that it extends to the substantive justification of democratic decisions. I shall argue against this interpretation and suggest a procedural
interpretation instead. On this view, public reason is invoked when it comes to the political justification of the principles that should govern the process of democratic decision-making, but not – at least not directly – in relation to the content of public deliberation.
Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
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Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Philosophy | ||||
Journal or Publication Title: | Politics and Ethics Review | ||||
Publisher: | Edinburgh University Press | ||||
ISSN: | 1755-0882 | ||||
Official Date: | 2007 | ||||
Dates: |
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Volume: | Vol.3 | ||||
Number: | No.1 | ||||
Page Range: | pp. 129-143 | ||||
DOI: | 10.3366/per.2007.3.1.129 | ||||
Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
Publication Status: | Published | ||||
Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||
Description: | Also presented at Rawls Workshop, University of Bochum, February 2012 |
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