The Dilemma of Contemporary Political Liberalism and its Overcome

ISBN-13: 9783639134353 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 228 str.

Jenn-Chyun Shieh

Opis

I argue that political liberals fail to work out a unanimous political principle because they avoid the problem of reasonable disagreement, whether by way of"original position" in J. Rawls or "principle of neutrality" in C. Larmore, and B. Ackerman. Political liberals are confronted with a complicated dilemma when forced to address the problem of diversity, namely, the dilemma of excluding or including conceptions of the good that falsify the original position of neutrality. In order to address the challenge of reasonable pluralism, and to overcome the liberal dilemma, I propose an "engaged model for the mutualunderstanding of differences" as the basis of reaching political consensus. This model consists of a procedural presentation of differences in order to achieve mutual understanding and a rationale for a common political project. It expands a deliberative public sphere and opens new possibilities for the comparative study of political, religious, moral, and philosophical doctrines that enhance a prospect of toleration, political consensus and political justice in pluralistic democratic societies.

O autorze

SHIEH, JENN-CHYUN (Mark Shieh). Ph.D.: Graduated from the
Division of Religious and Theological Studies at Boston
University. Majors in Political Philosophy and Comparative Study
of Religion. Former Director of Life Education Center at Tajen
University. Currently Teaching at National Chung Cheng
University and Tajen University in Taiwan.