A Sketch of Dialectical Engagement between Natural Law Tradition and Public Reason Liberalism

BAROŠ, Jiří. A Sketch of Dialectical Engagement between Natural Law Tradition and Public Reason Liberalism. In ISME 2021: Practical Rationality and Human Difference. The 14th Annual Conference of the International Society for MacIntyrean Enquiry. 2021.

Basic information

• Original name: A Sketch of Dialectical Engagement between Natural Law Tradition and Public Reason Liberalism
• Authors: BAROŠ, Jiří.
• Edition: ISME 2021: Practical Rationality and Human Difference. The 14th Annual Conference of the International Society for MacIntyrean Enquiry, 2021.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Presentations at conferences
• Field of Study: 60302 Ethics
• Country of publisher: Italy
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• WWW: URL
• Organization unit: Faculty of Social Studies
• Keywords in English: MacIntyre; natural law; liberalism; public reason liberalism; Rawls; Thomism
• Tags: International impact

Abstract

In this paper, I will propose an analytical overview of the dialectical engagement between Catholic natural law tradition (hereinafter "NLT") and political, or, more exactly, public reason liberalism (hereinafter “PRL”). In the first part, I will try to present NL and liberalism as two rival traditions of moral enquiry. I will start with a brief discussion on the concept of tradition and the possibility of the mutual engagement between competing traditions. Given the complexity of these traditions, I will have to spatiotemporally define the field in which I will traverse. In the second part, after outlining the attitude of PRL towards NL reasons, I will categorize different approaches towards PRL among the exponents of NLT. Of course, this long-lived tradition is rarely monolithic and, among its contemporary representatives, various strands with specific points of view on liberal tradition could be differentiated. Although the attitude of the majority of NL thinkers towards PRL has often been negative, there is a strong difference in their stance on liberalism in general (i.e. some authors want to endorse so-called NL liberalism, some defend the withdrawal into local communities or some kind of confessional state). In the end, this ultimate question of my paper concerns the fundamental (in)compatibility of NL and liberal tradition. Still, more concretely, I will try to identify reasons supporting, or on the other hand resisting, the main ideas behind PRL.

Links

• GA19-11091S, research and development project: Name: Jak dál s veřejným rozumem? Kritiky a obhajoby veřejného ospravedlnění podle liberalismu

Investor: Czech Science Foundation