Liberalism between Politics and Epistemology: A Discussion of Alessandro Ferrara’s The Democratic Horizon: Hyperpluralism and the Renewal of Political Liberalism

Abstract

In this symposium, Alessandro Ferrara’s recent book The Democratic Horizon: Hyperpluralism and the Renewal of Political Liberalism – an attempt to expand the framework of Rawls’ political liberalism in order to enable it to meet the challenge of today’s hyperpluralism – is discussed from a variety of angles by four contributors. Among the themes addressed are the potential of political liberalism for grounding a critical attitude; the different potential for accommodation offered by political liberalism for religious and moral, as opposed to economic, pluralism; Rawls’ implicit understanding of truth; the prospects of true democracy in ethnically divided societies that embrace consociationalist and particularly consensualist forms of governance; and the proper role of human rights in paths from decency to democracy from the perspective of an expanded political liberalism. In the final section, Alessandro Ferrara replies to his critics and accepts some of their suggestions.