Why not Extend Rawls’ Public Reason Beyond Fundamental Issues? A Defence of the Broad-Scope View of Public Reason

The scope of public reason determines which political decisions should be taken according to its standards. In this paper, I defend a broad-scope view of public reason, according to which every single political decision should be justified by public reasons. In the first part, I argue that, despite the unclarity of Rawls’ position, it is compatible with the wide-scope view. In the three following parts, I refute the main arguments in favour of the narrow-scope view of public reason. Finally, I offer an argument for the wide-scope view and conclude that it is preferable from the point of view of political liberalism.