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Document Details :

Title: Justification in the Liberal Era
Subtitle: The Failing Neutralisation of Public Contempt
Author(s): PATTYN, Bart
Journal: Ethical Perspectives
Volume: 16    Issue: 2   Date: June 2009   
Pages: 165-188
DOI: 10.2143/EP.16.2.2041650

Abstract :
In spite of the fact that people spontaneously presuppose that moral consensus does not exist in today’s world, modern societies tend nevertheless to be characterised by an egalitarian liberal engagement that is sustained by a broadly upheld collective concern: the rejection or neutralisation of any kind of public justification. The failure of this neutralisation is apparent for all to see, however, leading modern societies with problems the existence of which they are forced to deny. The resulting situation thus obliges egalitarian liberal societies to review many of their moral presuppositions.

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