Table Of Content

Rawls, Political Liberalism and Reasonable Faith For over twenty years, Paul Weithman has explored the thought of John Rawls to ask how liberalism can secure the principled allegiance of those Rawlscalled“citizensoffaith.”Thisvolumebringstogethertenofhismajor essays(includingonenewunpublishedessay),whichreflectonthetaskand politicalcharacterofpoliticalphilosophy,thewaysinwhichliberalismdoes anddoesnotprivatizereligion,theroleofliberallegitimacyinRawls’stheory, andtherequirementsofpublicreason.TheessaysrevealRawlsasathinker deeplyengagedwithpoliticalandexistentialquestionsthattroublecitizensof faith.Theyalsoexplorehow–infirmoppositiontopoliticalrealism–Rawls triestoshowthatthepossibilityofliberaldemocracyandthenaturalgoodness ofhumanityareobjectsofreasonablefaith.Thevolumewillbeofinterestto political philosophers, political theorists, moral theologians and religious ethicists. paul weithman is the Glynn Family Honors Collegiate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Notre Dame. His publications include Religion and the Obligations of Citizenship (Cambridge University Press, 2002),WhyPoliticalLiberalism?OnJohnRawls’sPoliticalTurn(2010)and manyjournalarticlesonmedievalpoliticaltheory,religiousethicsandpoli- ticalphilosophy. Rawls, Political Liberalism and Reasonable Faith Paul Weithman UniversityPrintingHouse,CambridgeCB28BS,UnitedKingdom CambridgeUniversityPressispartoftheUniversityofCambridge. ItfurtherstheUniversity’smissionbydisseminatingknowledgeinthepursuitof education,learning,andresearchatthehighestinternationallevelsofexcellence. www.cambridge.org Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107147430 ©PaulWeithman,2016 Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception andtotheprovisionsofrelevantcollectivelicensingagreements, noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress. Firstpublished2016 AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Weithman,PaulJ.,1959–author. Rawls,politicalliberalism,andreasonablefaith/PaulWeithman. NewYork:CambridgeUnversityPress,2016.|Includesbibliographical referencesandindex. LCCN2016008447|ISBN9781107147430 LCSH:Politicalscience–Philosophy.|Religionandpolitics.|Liberalism.| Rawls,John,1921–2002.|Rawls,John,1921–2002.Briefinquiryintothe meaningofsinandfaith. LCCJA71.W432016|DDC320.01–dc23 LCrecordavailableathttps://lccn.loc.gov/2016008447 ISBN978-1-107-14743-0Hardback CambridgeUniversityPresshasnoresponsibilityforthepersistenceoraccuracyof URLsforexternalorthird-partyInternetWebsitesreferredtointhispublication anddoesnotguaranteethatanycontentonsuchWebsitesis,orwillremain, accurateorappropriate. TothememoryofmyparentsPaulandPatriciaWeithman,peopleof deepdevotionwhotaughtmeareasonablefaith. Contents WorksbyJohnRawls pageviii Introduction ix PartI Theundergraduatethesis 1 1 OnJohnRawls’sABriefInquiryintotheMeaningofSinandFaith 3 PartII FromATheoryofJusticetoPoliticalLiberalism 27 2 JohnRawlsandthetaskofpoliticalphilosophy 29 3 Rawlsianliberalismandtheprivatizationofreligion:three theologicalobjectionsconsidered 41 4 Liberalismandthepoliticalcharacterofpoliticalphilosophy 62 5 LegitimacyandtheprojectofPoliticalLiberalism 82 PartIII Publicreasonanditsrole 117 6 Citizenshipandpublicreason 119 7 Inclusivism,stabilityandassurance 150 8 Convergenceandpoliticalautonomy 168 PartIV Rawls,realismandreasonablefaith 191 9 TheLawofPeoplesandChristianrealism 193 10 Doesjusticeasfairnesshaveareligiousaspect? 213 Bibliography 242 Index 248 vii Works by John Rawls Rawls’sworks,givenhereinchronologicalorderoftheirpublication,arecited parentheticallyinthetextusingthefollowingabbreviations: TJ A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971, 1999. Page references to both editions are sup- plied,separatedbya“/”. PL Political Liberalism. New York: Columbia University Press, 1996. CP Collected Papers, ed. Samuel Freeman. Cambridge, MA: HarvardUniversityPress,1999. LHMP Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy, ed. Barbara Herman.Cambridge,MA:HarvardUniversityPress,2000. JFR JusticeasFairness:ARestatement,ed.ErinKelly.Cambridge, MA:HarvardUniversityPress,2001. LP The Law of Peoples. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press,2001. LHPP Lectures on the History of Political Philosophy, ed. Samuel Freeman.Cambridge,MA:HarvardUniversityPress,2007. BI ABriefInquiryintotheMeaningofSinandFaith,ed.Thomas Nagel.Cambridge,MA:HarvardUniversityPress,2009. viii Introduction The chapters in this volume stem from a long-standing desire to deepen my understandingofliberaldemocracy.AmongthethingsIhavemostwantedto understand about it are the conditions under which it might gain principled acceptance–especiallyprincipledacceptancebythosewhoadheretovarious religiousviews.Thepossibilityofsuchacceptanceispuzzlingandraisesmany deep questions, and the road to it may seem to be blocked by formidable intellectual obstacles.Forliberalismis oftenthoughttobeincompatiblewith religious faith, with consequences for politics that are all too evident in our world. By the time I began graduate studies at Harvard in 1981, it had long been apparent that John Rawls’s justice as fairness was the most philosophically powerful account of liberalism on offer. Rawls began his so-called “political turn” during the time that I was working with him. My initial reaction – or perhapsIshouldsay,myinitialreactionasIrecallitmanyyearsafterthefact– wasthattheviewhewasthendevelopingwasaliberalismthatnotonlymerited thesortofacceptancethatinterestedme,butwasalsoonethatcouldovercome theobstacleswhichseemedtostandinthewayofsecuringit.Thechaptersin this book are some of my best attempts to gain a clearer understanding of politicalliberalismandtoshowthatmyinitialreactiontoitwasright. The chapters also stem from my belief that if religious faith does not seek philosophical understanding, it risks becoming complacent, superficial or unreasoned.Conversely,thesearchforsuchunderstandingcanleadtoafaith that is deepened by a more satisfying grasp of the metaphysical, theological, andmoralconceptsinwhichitscoredoctrinesareexpressedanditsimplica- tionsdrawnout.Ithereforethinkthatthosewhoprofessareligiousfaithshould trytoexamineitusingthesharpestphilosophicaltoolsavailable. As I have already intimated, I believe that justice as fairness is the best politicalphilosophyforourtimeandplace.Ialsobelievethatitpromisesthe deeperunderstandingofourcommonlifethatreligiousfaithshouldseek.Ido notclaimitholdsoutthispromisebecauseIthinkthatprobingRawls’stheory of justice reveals his own unspoken convictions or suppressed premises of areligiouscharacter.Rather,Ibelieveitholdsoutthatpromiseforatleastthree ix