The Nature of Political Justification

Abstract

The classical view of political justification draws on the Aristotelian picture of political philosophy as a specific area of ethics. By contrast, starting with Machiavelli, a modern conception of political justification emerges: political justification is distinct in nature from ethical justification. Kant has sometimes been interpreted as exposing a classical view (for instance, by Habermas), and sometimes as defending the ‘modern’ view (for instance, by Guyer). Nevertheless, in fact, his view seems to be distinct: he seems to link political justification with ethical justification in a complex way, so that the result is reducible to neither the classical nor the ‘modern’ account. Irrespective of the textual accuracy of these interpretations, questions remain concerning the nature of political justification in the context of current pluralism, and the philosophical cogency of these three models of political justification. The aim of this panel is to examine these questions.

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