Rawls and Habermas : reason, pluralism, and the claims of political philosophy

256 Pages·2010·1.75 MB·English

by  Habermas

Rawls and HabeRmas

Rawls and Habermas
reason, pluralism,
and the claims
of political philosophy
Todd Hedrick
stanford university press
Stanford, California 2010
stanford University Press
stanford, California
©2010 by the board of Trustees of the
leland stanford Junior University
all rights reserved
Chapter 7, section 3 and Chapter 8, sections 1, 2, and 4 were originally
published in Philosophy and Social Criticism 36, no. 2 (2010): 183–208.
©saGe Publications 2010. Reprinted with permission.
no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without
the prior written permission of stanford University Press.
library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data
Hedrick, Todd.
Rawls and Habermas : reason, pluralism, and the claims of political
philosophy / Todd Hedrick.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8047-7076-7 (cloth : alk. paper)—
isbn 978-0-8047-7077-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Political science—Philosophy. 2. Rawls, John, 1921–
2002. 3. Habermas, Jürgen. I. Title.
ja71.h3499 2010
320.01—dc22 2009044480
Printed in the United states of america
on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Typeset at stanford University Press in 10/13 Galliard
Acknowledgments
This book would have never been possible without the generous assistance
of a great many colleagues and teachers over the years. I owe the most
oversized debt to Thomas mcCarthy. Tom has read every version of this
manuscript, and his relentless attention to detail, professional savvy, good
humor, and support were invaluable. I only hope this work reflects to some
degree the quality of his advice. I would also like to thank Cristina lafont
and Terry Pinkard: both repeat readers, excellent critics, and stimulating
conversation partners, from whom I learned a great deal. It was an honor
and a pleasure to work with Charles Taylor and Jürgen Habermas, who
were very helpful and encouraging, and whose friendliness and approach-
ability belied their stature. For helping to shape my thought over the years
on the issues discussed in the following pages, through conversation and
correspondence, thanks to (in no particular order) bradford Cokelet, Jef-
frey Flynn, melissa Yates, Jonathan Garthoff, matthew steilen, sebastian
Rand, Jason leddington, laura Reagan, Torrey shanks, amy allen, Chad
belfor, Crina archer, and ben Rutter. I am no doubt omitting some people,
for which I apologize.
Thanks to my editor at stanford, emily-Jane Cohen, for all of the con-
siderable effort she devoted to shepherding this book into the light of day.
I am especially grateful to Kenneth baynes and simone Chambers for re-
viewing the entire manuscript and forcing me to make it better through
their challenging and insightful commentaries.
earlier versions of sections of Chapters 7 and 8 appeared as “Coping
with Constitutional Indeterminacy: Rawls and Habermas,” Philosophy and
Social Criticism 36, no. 2 (2010): 183–208, reprinted with permission from
saGe Publications.
vi Acknowledgments
For helping me, with care and counsel, to sustain confidence that my
path was a worthwhile one, I owe the deepest debt to my family: my
brother Tyson Hedrick and my grandmother, ellen sax. I dedicate this
book, with love and gratitude, to my parents, nancy and mike Hedrick,
for reasons too numerous to mention.
Contents
Abbreviations ix
Introduction 1
1. Freestanding Political Philosophy and the descriptivist
Critique of Rawls 17
2. The Rawlsian apparatus of Justification 34
3. Rawls between metaphysics and Proceduralism 61
4. Procedure and substance, Construction and
Reconstruction 81
5. discourse Theory and the Constitutional democratic
state 103
6. Proceduralism and Functionalism in Habermas’s Theory
of law and democracy 125
7. Rawls and the Critique of Constitutional Contractarianism 149
8. Habermasian Constitutional Theory 166
9. Conclusion: Idealizations and Power 184
Notes 197
Works Cited 225
Index 237

Abbreviations
The following abbreviations have been used in the text for frequently cited
works.
works by rawls
TJ A Theory of Justice. 1st edition. Cambridge, ma: Harvard Univer-
sity Press, 1971. Revised edition. Cambridge, ma: Harvard Uni-
versity Press, 1999. I cite the first edition, followed by the revised
edition where it is different.
Pl Political Liberalism. 2nd edition. new York: Columbia University
Press, 1996.
R “Reply to Habermas.” In Political Liberalism, 372–434.
CP Collected Papers. edited by samuel Freeman. Cambridge, ma:
Harvard University Press, 1999.
JF Justice as Fairness: A Restatement. edited by erin Kelly. Cam-
bridge, ma: Harvard University Press, 2001.
works by habermas
Ces Communication and the Evolution of Society. Translated by Thomas
mcCarthy. boston: beacon Press, 1979.
TCa 1 Theory of Communicative Action, volume 1: Reason and the Ratio-
nalization of Society. Translated by Thomas mcCarthy. boston:
beacon Press, 1984.