Reconstructing Public Reason

MacGilvray argues that we should shift our attention away from the problem of identifying uncontroversial public ends in the present and toward the problem of evaluating potentially controversial public ends through collective inquiry over time.

Table of Contents:
Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Contents Acknowledgments Abbreviations 1. The Present Dilemma 2. What Pragmatism Is (and Is Not) 3. Overview I . TOWARD A PRAGMATIC THEORY OF POLITICAL JUSTIFICATION 1. Does Justification Matter 2. The Limits of Proceduralism 3. The Limits of Agonism 4. Pragmatic Justification 5. Beyond Minimalism 1. Scope of the Problem 2. Belief and Will 3. Belief and Evidence 4. Belief and Context 5. Pragmatism and the Will to Believe 1. Narrative and Moral Experience 2. Narrative and Moral Ontology 3. Narrative and Evidence 4. Narrative and Doubt 5. Narrative and Public Discourse II. PRAGMATISM AND DEMOCRACY 1. Acquiescent Pragmatism 2. The Problem of Context 3. Experience as Experiment 4. Science and Democracy 5. Pragmatism and Egalitarianism 1. The Deweyan Revival 2. The Hegelian Deposit 3. Individuality and Community 4. The Problem with the Public 5. Dewey’s Enduring Contribution III. POLITICAL LIBERALISM 1. Desiderata 2. Public Justifiability 3. Right and Reasonable 4. Right and Good 5. Public Reason and Reasonable Disagreement 6. Two Difficulties 1. Embodying Public Reason 2. Disagreement, Consensus, and Respect 3. The Judicial Model 4. Insincerity Examined 5. The Federal Model 6. Is Injustice Justifiable 1. The Pluralist Narrative 2. Is Pluralism Necessary 3. Is Pluralism Permanent 4. The Fallibilist Narrative 5. Fallibilism without Skepticism 6. Legitimacy without Neutrality Conclusion: Liberalism after Minimalism Index

Review :
[MacGilvray's] thoughtful book, Reconstructing Public Reason, proposes a pragmatic modification of liberalism that hypothesizes making narrative accounts of proposed actions transparent, public, and prospective in order to test competing claims... While written for an audience of political theorists, Reconstructing Public Reason will appeal to scholars interested in deliberative democracy, pragmatism, and narrative reasoning. -- Damien Pfister Rhetoric and Public Affairs Imaginatively conceived and skillfully executed, Reconstructing Public Reason will appeal to those anxious about the declining (or ascending!) influence of pragmatism and those anxious about the practical significance of theorizing about political justice generally and political liberalism specifically. No small accomplishment. -- Alfonso Damico, University of Iowa This is an intelligent book that addresses two important and fashionable themes in political theory--pragmatism and political liberalism. And it contributes to our understanding of both. -- Jeffrey Isaac, Indiana University