On Rawls’s Idea of Public Reason

The aim of this essay is to elucidate John Rawls’s idea of public reason and its limits. According to Rawls, public reason is an ideal of democratic citizenship, which requires that the public discussion of fundamental political questions should be conducted solely in terms of reasons all citizens can reasonably be expected to endorse. Public reason can therefore produce a political consensus given the fact of reasonable pluralism of a liberal society. In this essay, I will begin by examining the idea of public reason proposed by Rawls. Next, I will consider four objections to this idea. Third, I will critically analyze whether and how the modified view of Rawls’s latest thoughts on public reason can reply to these objections. In conclusion, I point out that, without well-educated citizens, Rawls cannot resolve the problem of plebiscitory reason.