Justification of Political Liberalism and the Catholic Paradox

1998 ◽  
pp. 95-104
Author(s):  
Roger Magyar
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Good Life ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Democratic Process ◽  
Ideal Convergence ◽  
Overlapping Consensus ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
The Subject

Rawls' justification of political liberalism has been the subject of recent discussion in socio-political philosophy. In Political Liberalism, he has adjusted his original notion of ideal convergence, found in A Theory of Justice, to one of overlapping consensus. I argue that Catholics would find themselves excluded from being good citizens as Rawls defines proper citizenship. This follows from his statements concerning fairness in participating in the democratic process in that it would lead to, what I term, the Catholic paradox. This perspective from within the Catholic point of view indicates that there are similar problems to be found in other traditionally informed conceptions of what the good life is. In this way, the Catholic paradox draws attention to the empirical implausibility that competing conceptions of what the good life is, as understood from within their traditions, will not endorse Rawls' political theory. I then relate how easily it can be inferred that other traditions will face the same paradox and that they will not accept Rawls' political theory as being justified from their perspectives.

Must Liberal Citizens Be Reasonable?

1996 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth A. Strike
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Good Life ◽  
Political Socialization ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Habits Of Mind ◽  
Comprehensive Doctrine ◽  
Free Standing ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
Comprehensive Doctrines ◽  
Liberal Culture

Political Liberalism was motivated by Rawls's belief that A Theory of Justice inadequately treated the problem of stability. Theory of Justice grounded justice in a comprehensive doctrine, ethical liberalism. In a society wherein citizens hold a variety of reasonable comprehensive doctrines, such a theory of justice is unstable. Political Liberalism seeks a free-standing political theory compatible with many reasonable comprehensive doctrines.Reasonableness involves reciprocity which in turn requires the acceptance of the burdens of judgment. We cannot respect other citizens if we regard them or their comprehensive doctrines as pernicious or stupid. While we may continue to accept our own comprehensive doctrine, reciprocity and tolerance require that we recognize that other doctrines and those who hold them are reasonable.Callan claims that Rawls's project fails. Ethical liberalism views autonomy as essential to a good life. However, if the burdens of judgment are a prerequisite for reciprocity, political liberalism must also value autonomy, if not as an essential part of a good life, then as a public good. Any view of political socialization robust enough to secure a recognition of the burdens of judgment must also produce habits of mind tantamount to autonomy. If so, political liberalism collapses into ethical liberalism. Their implications for political socialization are indistinguishable. Many comprehensive doctrines, paradigmatically religious ones, will be weakened by these requirements for political socialization.Callan's argument points to a tension in liberal views of education. A liberalism that promotes a thick liberal culture will appear intolerant to many with religious commitments.

scholarly journals On the Best Life

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 2-9
Author(s):  
Chris Berger
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Good Life ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Human Being ◽  
Natural Function ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

In order to find a thorough treatment of the good life, arguably the subject of political science, we must have recourse to the ancients.  Aristotle directly addresses and thematizes the concept of “the good life” in his Nicomachean Ethics, wherein it is suggested that the best possible life for a human being is one that is lived in accordance with a human being’s natural function, that is, logos.  This paper implements Aristotle’s definition of the good life in order to suggest that it presents us with not merely a viable but a superior alternative to the relativistic language of “lifestyles” and “values” that dominates contemporary political theory.  This paper will first establish a framework within which the best life for a human being may be understood, then proceed to explain the inadequacy of relativism as a way of conceiving of the best life and the relationship between the best life and the best person.  The argument will conclude by making a case for the importance of the best life as a topic worthy of pursuit in both theory and practice.

Political liberalism and the good life

2009 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 1119-1125
Author(s):  
David M. Rasmussen
Keyword(s):  
Good Life ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
The Good Life

scholarly journals Construcción de “vida buena” de estudiantes de bachillerato a partir de la interacción con miembros de sus redes personales / Construction of "Good Life" of High School Students from the Interaction with Members of their Personal Networks

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Karina Rivero Pérez
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
High School Students ◽  
Good Life ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Social Structures ◽  
Personal Networks ◽  
School Students ◽  
Symbolic Resources ◽  
The Subject ◽  
La Red

ABSTRACTThis paper studies the construction of the notion of "good life" of young students of a high school as a result of the exchange of material and symbolic resources to members of their personal networks. In this research, the actors and their actions are treated as interdependent, so the relational ties between actors influence how young people construct their notion of good life and plan their future. The proposed study is based on the concept of personal networks in which the network is considered from the point of view of the subject, in this of young high school students who lived in a marginal urban area of Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. Since the study subjects are young with few opportunities and situations of social inequality we must know in which social structures they interact.RESUMENEl presente artículo estudia la construcción de la noción de “vida buena” de jóvenes estudiantes de un bachillerato universitario como resultado del intercambio de recursos materiales y simbólicos con los miembros de sus redes personales. En esta investigación, los actores y sus acciones son tratados como interdependientes, por lo cual los lazos relacionales entre los actores influyen en como los jóvenes construyen su noción de vida buena y planean su futuro. El estudio está planteado a partir del concepto de redes personales en el cual se plantea la red desde el punto de vista del individuo, en este caso los jóvenes estudiantes de bachillerato quienes son habitantes de una zona urbana marginal de Mérida, Yucatán, México. Dado que los sujetos de estudio son jóvenes con pocas oportunidades y en situaciones de desigualdad social hay que conocer qué les otorgan o limitan los procesos y estructuras sociales en las que interactúan. Contacto principal: [email protected]

Part I

Good Lives ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 3-124
Author(s):  
Samuel Clark
Keyword(s):  
Literary Criticism ◽  
Good Life ◽  
Ethical Reasoning ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Self Knowledge

Part I investigates a wide range of autobiographies, alongside work on the history and literary criticism of autobiography, on narrative, and on the philosophies of the self and of the good life. It works from the point of view of the autobiographer, and considers what she does, what she aims at, and how she achieves her effects, to answer three questions: what is an autobiography? How can we learn about ourselves from reading one? About what subjects does autobiography teach? This part of the book develops, first, an account of autobiography as paradigmatically a narrative artefact in a genre defined by its form: particular diachronic compositional self-reflection. Second, an account of narrative as paradigmatically a generic telling of a connected temporal sequence of particular actions taken by, and particular events which happen to, agents. It defends rationalism about autobiography: autobiography is in itself a distinctive and valuable form of ethical reasoning, and not merely involved in reasoning of other, more familiar kinds. It distinguishes two purposes of autobiography, self-investigation and self-presentation. It identifies five kinds of self-knowledge at which autobiographical self-investigation typically aims—explanation, justification, self-enjoyment, selfhood, and good life—and argues that meaning is not a distinct sixth kind. It then focusses on the book’s two main concerns, selfhood and good life: it sets out the wide range of existing accounts, taxonomies, and tasks for each, and gives an initial characterisation of the self-realization account of the self and its good which is defended in Part II.

scholarly journals Etre fidèle à soi: Féminisme, éthique et justice à la lumière de la philosophie de Paul Ricœur

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damien Tissot
Keyword(s):  
Emmanuel Levinas ◽  
Good Life ◽  
Paul Ricoeur ◽  
Judith Butler ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Feminist Research ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Feminist Discourse ◽  
Paul Ricœur ◽  
The Subject

In this paper, I read Paul Ricoeur in dialogue with Judith Butler, Emmanuel Levinas and Annie Léchenet. I suggest that Ricoeur’s philosophy provides interesting tools to articulate two simultaneous feminist claims, that is, a claim for recognition and a claim of justice. This article particularly highlights how the Ricoeurian hermeneutics of the subject, which puts self-esteem at the centre of the good life with and for others within just institutions, can provide an interesting frame for feminist research. Through my reading of Ricoeur, by linking more precisely the notions of promise and self-esteem, I argue that Ricoeur’s philosophy allows us to develop a theory of faithfulness to oneself, which, I suggest, is an implicit claim of feminist discourse.

scholarly journals Reviewing Public Reason: A Critique of Rawls’ Political Liberalism and the Idea of Public Reason

2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 715-729
Author(s):  
Rachael Patterson
Keyword(s):  
Political Theory ◽  
Critical Review ◽  
Public Reason ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Liberal Neutrality ◽  
Theory Of Justice ◽  
Reasonable Pluralism

This article provides a critical review of Rawls’ effort in Political Liberalism to construct a political theory of justice compatible with the fact of reasonable pluralism. Particular attention is given to the ‘idea of public reason’ and political liberalism’s liberal neutrality. It is argued that because of its liberal neutrality, political liberalism would preclude people from endorsing at least some reasonable comprehensive views and, therefore, as a theory it lacks the necessary stability required to be as successful as Rawls claims.

scholarly journals Excluded from the Good Life? An Ethical Approach to Conceptions of Active Ageing

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 44-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Pfaller ◽  
Mark Schweda
Keyword(s):  
Old Age ◽  
Good Life ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Active Ageing ◽  
The Good Life ◽  
Social Discrimination ◽  
Ethical Point ◽  
Normative Content ◽  
Blind Spots ◽  
Policy Discourses

Contesting previous deficit-oriented models of ageing by focusing on the resources and potential of older people, concepts of ‘successful’, ‘productive’, and ‘active ageing’ permeate social policy discourses and agendas in ageing societies. They not only represent descriptive categories capturing the changing realities of later phases of life, but also involve positive visions and prescriptive claims regarding old age. However, the evaluative and normative content of these visions and claims is hardly ever explicitly acknowledged, let alone theoretically discussed and justified. Therefore, such conceptions of ‘ageing well’ have been criticised for promoting biased policies that privilege or simply impose particular practices and lifestyles. This appears problematic as it can obstruct or even effectively foreclose equal chances of leading a good life at old age. Against this backdrop, our contribution aims to discuss current conceptions of active ageing from an ethical point of view. Starting from an analysis of policy discourses and their critique, we first examine the moral implications of prominent conceptions of active ageing, focusing on evaluative and normative premises. By employing philosophical approaches, we analyse these premises in light of a eudemonistic ethics of good life at old age and detect fixations, shortcomings, and blind spots. Finally, we discuss consequences for ethically informed active ageing research and policies, highlighting the interrelations between one-sided ideals of ageing well and social discrimination and exclusion.

Partisanship and Political Liberalism in Diverse Societies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Bonotti
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Public Reason ◽  
Political Liberalism ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Overlapping Consensus ◽  
Political Obligations ◽  
Central Argument ◽  
The Stability

Since its publication in 1993, John Rawls’s Political Liberalism has been central to debates concerning political legitimacy, democratic theory, toleration, and multiculturalism in contemporary political theory. Yet, despite the immense body of literature which has been produced since Rawls’s work was published, very little has been said or written regarding the place of political parties and partisanship within political liberalism. This book aims to fill this gap in the literature. Its central argument is that political liberalism needs and nourishes political parties, and that political parties are therefore not hostile but vital to it. First, partisanship generates its own distinctive kind of political obligations, additional to any political obligations people may have qua ordinary citizens. Second, contrary to what many critics argue, and despite its admittedly restrictive features, Rawls’s conception of public reason allows significant scope for partisan advocacy and partisan pluralism, and in fact the very normative demands of partisanship are in syntony with those of public reason. Third, parties contribute to the overlapping consensus that for Rawls guarantees stability in diverse societies. Fourth, political liberalism nourishes political parties, by leaving many issues, including religious and socio-economic ones, open to democratic contestation. In summary, parties contribute both to the legitimacy and to the stability of political liberalism.

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