Date of Award
8-2020
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Philosophy
First Advisor
Dr. Andrew I. Cohen
Second Advisor
Dr. Peter Lindsay
Abstract
I argue that both major approaches to public reason liberalism include duties of restraint for legislators. Consensus views require exclusion of non-public reasons, and convergence requires proposal restraint. Violations of these duties create due diligence duties of moral repair, which require the wrongdoer to make a genuine and reasonable effort to normalize moral relations with those wronged. I argue that apology is one favorable route for moral repair. However, it is difficult to assess the sincerity of apologies, so they often need supplemented with other morally compensatory actions. I defend the view that, on consensus accounts, legislators must provide a renewed defense of their positions in terms of public reasons, and, on convergence accounts, legislators must retract their support for positions that violate convergent restraint.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/17834249
Recommended Citation
Larson, Luke, "Public Reason and Moral Repair." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2020.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/17834249
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