An idea of public reason: exclusionary and broad

Any conception of public reason that includes a principle of restraint on certain kinds of reasons, making them inadmissible for the purposes of public political justification, has to be specified according to the following characteristics: 1) the admission of reasons other than those which are par...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Diogo Fernandes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas, Centro de Estudos de Filosofia 2025-01-01
Series:International Journal of Philosophy and Social Values
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.ucp.pt/index.php/philosophyandsocialvalues/article/view/17560
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832591194730790912
author Diogo Fernandes
author_facet Diogo Fernandes
author_sort Diogo Fernandes
collection DOAJ
description Any conception of public reason that includes a principle of restraint on certain kinds of reasons, making them inadmissible for the purposes of public political justification, has to be specified according to the following characteristics: 1) the admission of reasons other than those which are part of its content, in which case it can be distinguished as to its exclusivity or inclusivity; and 2) the object of its application – only the basic structure of society or something beyond it – in which case it can be distinguished as to its limits. I will defend an idea of public reason characterized as exclusionary and broad, not admitting reasons that do not belong to the public political culture of pluralist democracies and extending to all matters involving the coercive power of the state. Against an inclusive perspective, I will argue that the fears related to the lack of authenticity of public political discourse are not only unfounded, but that the exclusionary view contributes better to fix the duty of neutral justification in the public political culture. Against a narrow perspective, I will argue that the incompleteness of public reason cannot be determined a priori, and that its limitation to the basic structure is inconsistent with the conditions of reasonable disagreement.
format Article
id doaj-art-d9e2180f2eb7417fac643e100f31e2ec
institution Kabale University
issn 2184-2787
language English
publishDate 2025-01-01
publisher Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas, Centro de Estudos de Filosofia
record_format Article
series International Journal of Philosophy and Social Values
spelling doaj-art-d9e2180f2eb7417fac643e100f31e2ec2025-01-22T19:04:32ZengUniversidade Católica Portuguesa, Faculdade de Ciências Humanas, Centro de Estudos de FilosofiaInternational Journal of Philosophy and Social Values2184-27872025-01-014110.34632/philosophyandsocialvalues.2024.17560An idea of public reason: exclusionary and broadDiogo Fernandes0Universidade de Lisboa Any conception of public reason that includes a principle of restraint on certain kinds of reasons, making them inadmissible for the purposes of public political justification, has to be specified according to the following characteristics: 1) the admission of reasons other than those which are part of its content, in which case it can be distinguished as to its exclusivity or inclusivity; and 2) the object of its application – only the basic structure of society or something beyond it – in which case it can be distinguished as to its limits. I will defend an idea of public reason characterized as exclusionary and broad, not admitting reasons that do not belong to the public political culture of pluralist democracies and extending to all matters involving the coercive power of the state. Against an inclusive perspective, I will argue that the fears related to the lack of authenticity of public political discourse are not only unfounded, but that the exclusionary view contributes better to fix the duty of neutral justification in the public political culture. Against a narrow perspective, I will argue that the incompleteness of public reason cannot be determined a priori, and that its limitation to the basic structure is inconsistent with the conditions of reasonable disagreement. https://journals.ucp.pt/index.php/philosophyandsocialvalues/article/view/17560Comprehensive doctrinesNeutralityExclusivityAuthenticityIncompleteness
spellingShingle Diogo Fernandes
An idea of public reason: exclusionary and broad
International Journal of Philosophy and Social Values
Comprehensive doctrines
Neutrality
Exclusivity
Authenticity
Incompleteness
title An idea of public reason: exclusionary and broad
title_full An idea of public reason: exclusionary and broad
title_fullStr An idea of public reason: exclusionary and broad
title_full_unstemmed An idea of public reason: exclusionary and broad
title_short An idea of public reason: exclusionary and broad
title_sort idea of public reason exclusionary and broad
topic Comprehensive doctrines
Neutrality
Exclusivity
Authenticity
Incompleteness
url https://journals.ucp.pt/index.php/philosophyandsocialvalues/article/view/17560
work_keys_str_mv AT diogofernandes anideaofpublicreasonexclusionaryandbroad
AT diogofernandes ideaofpublicreasonexclusionaryandbroad