The fragility of justice: political liberalism and the problem of stability

Thesis

Human powers of moral reasoning and motivation are fragile. How should citizens committed to the achievement of liberal justice respond to this fact? This dissertation theorises a class of moral requirements that are central to the practice of liberal democracy but have been recently overlooked by political philosophers: the fortificational duties, which enjoin citizens to design and submit to civic practices that improve both their moral reasoning and the motivational resilience ...

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Authors: Howard, J

• Publication date: 2013
• DOI: 10.5287/ora-zrjpdvgge
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: judicial review; democracy; punishment; public reason; political liberalism; unreasonable citizens; stability
• Subjects: Criminal Law ? Jurisprudence; Political science; Ethics (Moral philosophy)