In Defence of Intelligible Reasons in Public Justification
Philosophical Quarterly 66 (264):596-616 (2016)
Abstract
Mainstream political liberalism holds that legal coercion is permissible only if it is based on reasons that all can share, access or accept. But these requirements are subject to well-known problems. I articulate and defend an intelligible reasons requirement as an alternative. An intelligible reason is a reason that all suitably idealized members of the public can see as a reason for the person who offers it according to that person’s own evaluative standards. It thereby permits reasons into public justification that all cannot share, access, or accept, and so contrasts with standard approaches to public justification. The intelligible reasons requirement has two striking implications. First, it severs the connection between public justification and principles of deliberative restraint. Second, it pushes political liberals to appeal to other political processes to publicly justify law, specifically bargaining, adjudication, and social evolution.Author's Profile
DOI
10.1093/pq/pqv117
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Citations of this work
On Justification, Idealization, and Discursive Purchase.Thomas M. Besch - 2019 - Philosophia 47 (3):601-623.
Rescuing Public Reason Liberalism’s Accessibility Requirement.Gabriele Badano & Matteo Bonotti - 2020 - Law and Philosophy 39 (1):35-65.
The reasons of the unreasonable: Is political liberalism still an option?Benedetta Giovanola & Roberta Sala - 2021 - Sage Publications Ltd: Philosophy and Social Criticism 48 (9):1226-1246.
Reasonable Citizens and Epistemic Peers: A Skeptical Problem for Political Liberalism.Han van Wietmarschen - 2018 - Journal of Political Philosophy 26 (4):486-507.
Public Justification, Inclusion, and Discursive Equality.Thomas M. Besch - 2018 - Dialogue 57 (3):591-614.