政治世界中的交流工具——罗尔斯的公共理性思想,及其对桑德尔反驳的回应

The Communicating Tool in the Political World——Rawls' Public Reason and His Response to Sandel's Refutation

在罗尔斯所设想的独立的政治世界上,持有不同价值观念的人们在交流时所使用的理性乃是“公共理性”,这是一种在应用范围、主题和方式上有着严格限制的特殊理性。罗尔斯这种理论曾受到桑德尔的猛烈反驳,对此,罗尔斯在其后期著作中进行了直接或间接的回应,并在这些回应中进一步丰满了公共理性的思想,使之更有可能在一个多元的社会中成为大家乐于接受的交流工具。

In the political world that Rawls conceived, there is a kind of reason called ＂public reason＂ which is shared by the persons having different sets of values. It is a special reason which is strictly confined according to its application scope, theme and manner. Rawls＇ claim was fiercely refuted by Sandel. Accordingly, Rawls made some direct or indirect responses in his later works where he improved his theory of public reason so that it could possibly become a communicating tool suitable to the public in a pluralistic society.