The instability of political liberalism
Date
2010-08-30T15:59:58Z
Authors
Lyth, Bruce J.
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Abstract
John Rawls' Political Liberalism is addressed to the problem of stability in democratic societies in light of the fact of religious diversity. In this thesis I argue that Political Liberalism in fact establishes the conditions for the sorts of instability with which it is concerned. It does so in at least two ways: First, it encapsulates the need for a regulative political conception of justice within the bounds of the territorially-defined state, a move seemingly at odds with the transnational character of religious identity, as expressed by transnational practices of legitimacy and dialogue. Second, it does not consider the ways in which the terms of citizenship in a liberal society are transformative for religious groups, and specifically the implications of this transformative character for Rawls' account of stability, as minority groups tend to be concerned with the integrity of their particular religious traditions.
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Keywords
liberalism, religion, John Rawls