San Diego Law Review
Document Type
Article
Abstract
The author argues that religious beliefs are appropriate grounds for public justification and choice. This view has been attacked by various liberal theorists, including John Rawls, for subjecting individuals in society to coercive government action based on premises to which they cannot reasonably assent. John Rawl’s Political Liberalism is analyzed as an instance of liberal theorists unnecessarily excluding a religious perspective from “liberal” public discourse. Professor Smith presents a new model of public discourse which, offering a moral and epistemological basis for including religious and other theories in public debate and choice.
Recommended Citation
Douglas G. Smith,
The Illiberalism of Liberalism: Religious Discourse in the Public Square,
34
San Diego L. Rev.
1571
(1997).
Available at:
https://digital.sandiego.edu/sdlr/vol34/iss4/3