Public reason and religion: A critical discussion on John Rawls' conception of public reason

Rawls constructs the idea of public reason, which is one of the most important components of his political understanding, on a secular basis. Public reason is secular both in connection with Rawls's political understanding and in excluding religious arguments. In the first version of the concept, Rawls excludes religious arguments from the public reason because he sees those arguments as irreconcilable issues. In the final version of the concept, he includes religious arguments in public reason, provided that they are supported by other public justifications. Although this secular nature of the concept contains many problems, this study focuses on two problems: the problem of representation and the prejudiced approach to religion. It is also claimed that this structure of public reason contradicts Rawls's notion of reasonable pluralism. These problems that public reason contains, are discussed with frequent reference to the relevant literature.