Rawlsian Public Reason and the Theological Framework of Martin Luther King's “Letter from Birmingham City Jail”

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 145-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Buckley Dyer ◽  
Kevin E. Stuart
Keyword(s):  
John Rawls ◽  
Public Reason ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
Martin Luther King ◽  
The Ideal

AbstractThe ideal of public reason, made prominent by John Rawls, has become a mainstay of discussions about the proper role of religious arguments in a politically liberal society. In particular, Rawls's theory of public reason requires citizens and public officials to refrain from appealing to comprehensive religious and philosophical doctrines in public deliberation on matters of basic justice and constitutional essentials. In this essay, we review the ways in which the public life of Martin Luther King, Jr. — with its frequent appeals to a comprehensive doctrine to justify disobedience to the law — represents a challenge to the ideal of public reason, and we consider several Rawlsian rejoinders. What is missing from the existing body of scholarship on public reason is a thorough analysis of King's philosophical and theological arguments, including the examples of legal injustice he offered in his celebrated “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” As we note, King's specific examples of unjust laws rely on a theological framework that bedevils the attempt to reconcile his Letter with the constructivist underpinnings of Rawls's theory of public reason. Indeed, Rawls is in something of a bind: either King's argument is not acceptable under the terms of public reason or public reason simply cannot limit contemporary public discourse in the way Rawls has in mind. We consider several possible Rawlsian arguments for the accommodation of King's theological rhetoric, but conclude that the Rawlsian idea of public reason remains deeply problematic.

scholarly journals Responding to religious patients: why physicians have no business doing theology

2019 ◽  
Vol 45 (11) ◽  
pp. 705-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jake Greenblum ◽  
Ryan K Hubbard
Keyword(s):  
Public Reason ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Medical Decision ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
Proper Role ◽  
Physician's Role ◽  
Physician Relationship ◽  
Public Character ◽  
Religious Considerations

A survey of the recent literature suggests that physicians should engage religious patients on religious grounds when the patient cites religious considerations for a medical decision. We offer two arguments that physicians ought to avoid engaging patients in this manner. The first is the Public Reason Argument. We explain why physicians are relevantly akin to public officials. This suggests that it is not the physician’s proper role to engage in religious deliberation. This is because the public character of a physician’s role binds him/her to public reason, which precludes the use of religious considerations. The second argument is the Fiduciary Argument. We show that the patient-physician relationship is a fiduciary relationship, which suggests that the patient has the clinical expectation that physicians limit themselves to medical considerations. Since engaging in religious deliberations lies outside this set of considerations, such engagement undermines trust and therefore damages the patient-physician relationship.

scholarly journals Introduction: Publics and Participation in Early Modern Britain

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 709-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. M. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Cultural Exchange ◽  
The Public ◽  
Cultural Boundaries ◽  
Modern Britain ◽  
Institutional Variation ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Important Shift

AbstractThe deconstruction of what is termed “the public sphere” in recent decades has resulted in an important shift in scholarly attention towards networks and forms of association. This article explores how greater sensitivity to the unstable and ephemeral nature of “publics,” combined with a stronger awareness of the role of cultural exchange, has undoubtedly enriched our understanding of early modern politics. Some analytical precision has, nonetheless, been lost. A justifiable emphasis on the artificiality of the territorial borders that have defined units of enquiry has occurred at the expense of deeper consideration of the cultural boundaries that dictated the terms on which people could participate in and shape public discourse. Study of the British archipelago can offer new ways of thinking about these problems. Linguistic and ethnic differences, the search for religious concord as well as the reality of confessional division, institutional variation, and the consequences of London's increasing dominance of the archipelago, are key facets of the reassessments undertaken here. The article concludes by reflecting on how interactions between varieties of “public” and other forms of association can nuance our understanding of early modern state formation.

scholarly journals La discrecionalidad en la provisión de puestos de trabajo mediante libre designación

2020 ◽  
pp. 20-41
Author(s):  
Rafael ALIAGA RODRÍGUEZ
Keyword(s):  
Discretionary Power ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Professional Career ◽  
The Public ◽  
Ideal Person ◽  
The Ideal

Laburpena: Administrazio publikoetako izendapen askeko lanpostuetarako izendapenetan “ahalmen diskrezionala” nola erabili aztertuko dugu. Funtzionario publikoen karrera profesionalerako eskubide subjektiboa ikertuko dugu, baita lanpostuak betetzeko sistemen arteko aldea ere: lehiaketa eta izendapen askea. Izendapen askearen diskrezionalitatearen kasuan, hura osatzen duten elementuak aztertuko ditugu, merezimenduari eta gaitasunari dagokienez. Prozesu hori objektibotasun-, inpartzialtasun- eta gardentasun-printzipioetatik abiatuta gauzatu beharko da, eta jarduera horren emaitzak hautatu beharreko hautagaia, pertsona egokia, zehaztera eramango gaitu. Resumen: Vamos a abordar cómo se debe ejercitar la “potestad discrecional” en el nombramiento en puestos de libre designación en las Administraciones Públicas. Analizaremos el derecho subjetivo a la carrera profesional del personal funcionario público y la distinción entre los sistemas de provisión de puestos de trabajo: el concurso y la libre designación. De la discrecionalidad de la libre designación escudriñaremos los elementos que la componen en relación con el mérito y la capacidad. El resultado de tal actividad, que deberá ejercerse desde los principios de objetividad, imparcialidad y transparencia, nos llevará hasta determinar la persona candidata a seleccionar, la persona idónea. Abstract: We are going to address how the “discretionary power” should be exercised in the appointment of freely appointed positions in the Public Administrations. We will analyze the subjective right to the professional career of public officials and the distinction between the systems for the provision of jobs: competition and free appointment. Regarding the discretion of free designation, we will scrutinize the elements that compose it in relation to merit and capacity. The result of such activity, which must be exercised from the principles of objectivity, impartiality and transparency, will lead us to determine the candidate to select, the ideal person.

scholarly journals Unravelling A Regulation Machine

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 86-98
Author(s):  
Dionysia Mylonaki ◽  
Panagiotis Tigas
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Fundamental Problem ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Technical Aspect ◽  
Current Approach ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
The Public ◽  
Machine Leraning

Computational censorship in the form of fake news and toxic comments regulation is a subject that comes up quite often in the public discourse, as a result of the volatile political circumstances on a global scale and due to the unquestionable impact of journalism on these circumstances. Public attention has been directed to the role of mainstream and other media in the formation of public opinion, either in the form of articles or in the form of usergenerated comments. The purpose is to analyse and allow a deeper understanding of a project that is under development, namely, computational-censorship and to show that algorithmic regulation is not a solution, but rather another layer to a more fundamental problem. This article examines the implicationsof developing Machine Leraning/Artificial Iintelligence (ML/AI) which aims to regulate the internet and we attempt to allow a glimpse into the technical aspect of the problem as a way to back arguments that could be re-jected by the ML/AI research community as “non-pragmatic”. Finally, it aims to highlight the absurdity of the current approach to research in this area, which is the exact opposite of the rationalism that the field claims to be embracing.

scholarly journals ISLAM, AGAMA TOLERANSI DAN CINTA DAMAI : (TELAAH ATAS NOVEL AYAT-AYAT CINTA KARYA HABIBURRAHMAN EL SHIRAZY)

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-89
Author(s):  
Ahmad Yasid ◽  
Moh Juhdi
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Legal Rule ◽  
The Public ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Middle Way ◽  
History Of ◽  
Data Collection Technique ◽  
Role Of Religion

Abstract   Islam, religion of tolerance and love of peace is one of Habiburrahman El Shirazy’s, it is a study indicating the values ​​of love and tolerance of Islam in the modern public space area. This study used the underlying theory of the values ​​of love and tolerance as well as the role of Islam in modern times that has been developing in the public discourse that in the history of human civilization there are several things that must be understood that humans have the sense to differentiate between humans and other creatures. From this reason humans can do something to explore and explain things that are not known by others. The method that is used in data collection technique is documentation technique, because this study is descriptive qualitative. This study examines several things including the values of love and tolerance because accepting differences is a distinct pleasure for each particular societies in other words, not seeing other people as deviants or enemies but as partner to complement each other by having an equal position and equally valid and valuable as a way of managing life and living life both individually and collectively. Acceptance of differences demands changes in the legal rule in people's lives so that the role of religion in the modern public space area becomes a middle way to build diversity and a nature that must both appreciate and respect one another, this diversity is seen in the portrait of everyday life which then creates peace, and harmony in interacting with all elements of society.    

Enacting Public Value on the Abc's Q&A: From Normative to Performative Approaches

2013 ◽  
Vol 146 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gay Hawkins
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Public Reason ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Public Address ◽  
Public Value ◽  
The Public ◽  
Current Affairs ◽  
Alternative Approach

Is there anything left to say about public value and public service broadcasting (PSB) without lapsing into boosterism, special pleading, or wildly unsubstantiated claims about the role of PSB in making citizens and democracy? This article develops an alternative approach, one that considers publicness not as a pre-given or static value, but as something that has to be continually enacted or performed. Using recent debates in political theory, it examines the processes and ontological effects of what Latour calls ‘making things public’. It makes two assumptions. The first is that there is no such thing as ‘the public’ out there waiting to be addressed; rather, publics have to be called into being The second is that there are a multiplicity of ways in which publicness can be assembled, and the challenge for PSB is to establish why its strategies are better. The example used is the ABC's current affairs discussion show Q&A, which is investigated to see how it generates an ontology of publicness. In what ways is the notion of public address and assembly mobilised? How does the experience of a public as a form of what Warner calls ‘Stranger sociability’ extend from the live audience to the household viewer? In what ways are the notions of public reason and rational discussion enacted and disrupted? And how does this enactment of publicness generate a sometimes poetic, anarchic or ribald shadow reality tweeted in from anonymous participants competing for public attention? Finally, how does it both reproduce and reinvent existing institutional regimes of value within the ABC?

Die Reformen des Wahlrechts zum Deutschen Bundestag 2011 und 2013 im öffentlichen Diskurs

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 844-864
Author(s):  
Eric Linhart ◽  
Oke Bahnsen
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
The Public ◽  
Electoral Law ◽  
German Newspapers

The German electoral law to the federal parliament was reformed in 2011 and in 2013 . While political scientists have extensively evaluated consequences of these reforms, the role of the public discourse has been largely neglected . We analyze articles from three leading German newspapers (FAZ, SZ, Welt) on this topic and find the debate around the reforms to be dominated by parties and political institutions . Scientists, interest groups, and journalists have only played minor roles . Regarding content, the discourse largely focused on surplus seats, reform speed, and a proposal by the CDU/CSU‑FDP coalition government in 2011 . A broad public debate in which multiple social groups could participate has not taken place . From a normative perspective this is problematic since the lack of a public debate might have contributed to the poor quality of the reform’s result .

Introduction

John Rawls ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 53-60
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Real World ◽  
John Rawls ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
The World ◽  
Ideal Standards ◽  
Principles Of Justice ◽  
The Ideal

What is the relation between political theory and political practice? In what ways can political philosophy help people to address real injustices in the world? John Rawls argues that an important role of political philosophy is to identify the ideal standards of justice at which we should aim in political practice. Other philosophers challenge this approach, arguing that Rawls’s idealizations are not useful as a guide for action or, worse, that they are an impediment to addressing actual injustices in the world. They argue, instead, that political philosophy ought to be focused on theorizing about the elimination of existing injustice. Still others argue that principles of justice should be identified without any constraint concerning the possibility of implementation or regulation in the real world at all....

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