The place of unreasonable people beyond Rawls. (July 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sala, Roberta
• Other Names: Zuolo Federico guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: European journal of political theory. Volume 12:Number 3(2013)
• Page Start: 253
• Page End: 270
• Publication Date: 2013-07
• Subjects: Liberal institutions -- modus vivendi -- Rawls -- reasonableness -- unreasonable people; Political science -- Periodicals; Political science -- Europe -- Periodicals; 320.05
• DOI: 10.1177/1474885112465248
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1474-8851

Abstract

In this article I look for an alternative way in which 'unreasonable' people may be included in a liberal society. Differing from Rawls, whose reasonable hope is for unreasonable people gradually to adhere to liberal institutions so that, over time, an overlapping consensus is reached, I propose the alternative way of them supporting these institutions as a special modus vivendi, which does not require them to renounce their non-reasonableness. First I detail the Rawlsian notion of reasonableness and unreasonableness; second, I discuss how the treatment of the unreasonable is addressed by Rawls; third, taking inspiration from two accounts of how to consider the 'unreasonable' within a liberal society, I maintain that a subset of 'unreasonable' (I call them 'non-reasonable') may be included in public debate; fourth, I propose that their way of inclusion is a stable modus vivendi .