Respect for persons and perfectionist politics
Philosophy and Public Affairs 30 (4):417–442 (2001)
| Abstract | Can a state seek to promote a thick conception of the good (such as fostering a kind of meaning or excellence in people's lives) without treating its citizens disrespectfully? The predominant answer among friends of the principle of respect for persons is "no." The most powerful Kantian objection to non-liberalism or perfectionism is the claim that citizens who do not share the state's conception of the good would be wronged in that the state would treat a certain way of life as more important than its citizens' capacities to choose their own ways of life. I sketch a new non-liberal principle for political decision-making and show that, unlike other forms of non-liberalism, it is not vulnerable to this major respect-based objection. 'Open perfectionism' is the view that state enforcement of a conception of the good favoured by the majority is permissible if and only if the minority has the substantial ability to avoid the territory in which the conception of the good is enforced. I argue that it is a realistic possibility for some non-liberal states to provide a fair opportunity to their dissenters to avoid the imposition of non-liberal policies and that the Kantian liberal's central complaint would not apply to non-liberal states if they were to provide such an opportunity. The principle of respect for persons grounds the most influential argument for liberalism, and so showing that open perfectionism is consistent with liberal intuitions about free choice promises to help to transcend the long-standing conflict between non-liberalism and Kantian liberalism. | |||||||||
| Keywords | No keywords specified (fix it) | |||||||||
| Categories | ||||||||||
| Options |
|
|||||||||
Download options| PhilPapers Archive |
Upload a copy of this paper Check publisher's policy on self-archival Papers currently archived: 5,631 |
| External links |
 |
| Through your library | Configure |
Similar books and articlesEmanuela Ceva (2011). Self-Legislation, Respect and the Reconciliation of Minority Claims. Journal of Applied Philosophy 28 (1):14-28.
Jennifer Morton (2011). The Non-Cognitive Challenge to a Liberal Egalitarian Education. Theory and Research in Education 9 (3):233-250.
Andrew Jason Cohen (2004). Defending Liberalism Against the Anomie Challenge. Social Theory and Practice 30 (3):391-427.
Thaddeus Metz (2004). Open Perfectionism and Global Justice. Theoria 51 (104):96-127.
Blain Neufeld (2005). Civic Respect, Political Liberalism, and Non-Liberal Societies. Politics, Philosophy and Economics 4 (3):275-299.
Colin M. Macleod (1997). Liberal Neutrality or Liberal Tolerance? Law and Philosophy 16 (5):529 - 559.
M. C. (1997). Liberal Neutrality or Liberal Tolerance? Law and Philosophy 16 (5):529-559.
Kevin Vallier (2013). Can Liberal Perfectionism Justify Religious Toleration? Wall on Promoting and Respecting. Philosophical Studies 162 (3):645-664.
Analytics
Monthly downloads |
Added to index2009-01-28Total downloads27 ( #45,693 of 548,972 )Recent downloads (6 months)2 ( #37,438 of 548,972 )How can I increase my downloads? |
My notes
Discussion
