Is French Republicanism embedded in an overlapping consensus?

Résumé du document

John Rawls's political theories are often criticized for being too theoretical. In fact, in order to develop his theory of justice and of political liberalism, Rawls makes use of innovative notions and conceptual devices. Even though he endeavors constantly to define, specify and illustrate these concepts such as the overlapping consensus, public reason, the original position or the veil of ignorance, they may still be deemed as too abstract and non-representational by many. Thus, it can be thought of as valuable or even necessary to assess the extent to which these hypothetical abstractions play out in reality. In order to do so, I shall try to examine the French notion of Republicanism and evaluate how it epitomizes Rawls's views particularly on the idea of the overlapping consensus. The focus will or will not be justified in the conclusions reached by this essay; but as of now, it has been chosen to do so given my modest familiarity with French political culture. Yet, schematic comparisons with the American political culture will be made towards the end of this brief essay in order to render it more unambiguous to the reader.

Extraits

[...] In fact, given the fact of pluralism, some form of discipline of speech and other forms of expression is required to ensure the durability of the overlapping consensus. Thus in France, although every citizen has freedom of speech and can exert every legal action he desires within his private sphere, once on the Republican stage, one has to follow certain rules. The most important ones are those related to the sacred French principle of laicite (temporality) that forbids any state representative or legislator or civil-servant to act in a biased way in favour of a religion. [...]

[...] But then, we ought to ask ourselves the following question: might it happen that over generations the initial acquiescence in a liberal conception of justice as a modus vivendi develops into a stable and enduring overlapping consensus?” First of all, it of the utmost importance that the principles and values embedded in the French Republic do not constitute or are not legitimised by what Rawls identifies as a “general and comprehensive moral doctrine”. According to him, this is paramount in order to achieve a overlapping consensus in two ways. [...]

[...] Now, if we go back to our model case, it is noteworthy that the French Republics there have been five of them - were never founded on comprehensive and general metaphysical or moral doctrines of any kind. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen focuses on man's freedom and equality when they are born. As a matter of fact, Rawls's two principles of justice are rather similar to the Declaration insofar as Article 4 of the Declaration states that individual freedom stops wherever another individual's freedom starts. [...]

[...] For instance, the general good of the French people at a given time could never be thought of as being the good for humanity or some other sort of superior conception of the good. Therefore, the foundations of the Republican political conception of justice are moral, and Republicanism is itself a moral conception[6]. Yet, along the lines of Rawls's “method of avoidance”[7] it is not grounded in a comprehensive and general moral or religious doctrine that would make metaphysical assertions or clam a superior knowledge of the Good. This is a paramount element in the process of acceptance of the overlapping consensus. [...]

[...] Republicanism can be defined as a doctrine or a theory as it will be discussed later - that promotes the Republic and the belongingness to this regime as being the most appropriate way to tackle issues of injustice and to build a just society. It relies on republican institutions, traditions, schools, citizens, values and virtues to establish a political system capable of fostering justice in the French society. Nowadays, while the “fact of pluralism” is undeniable in France, it can be said that the overwhelming majority of French citizens are Republicans. [...]