| The emerging of pluralism in contemporary western society forces liberalism to adopt the strategy of public justification to show the political legitimacy of liberal states. But is public justification central to contemporary liberalism? Even if the answer is "yes",two more questions can be raised:1,to what extent,or under what criterion can public-justificatory liberalism be considered as satisfying? 2,among diverse versions of public-justificatory liberalism,which one is the best?This paper aims to answer these three questions.First,it argues that considering liberalism and public justification share the same moral ground,it is necessary for liberalism to adopt the strategy of public justification.Second,it proposes three criterions to judge a satisfying public-justificatory liberalism and reveals the internal tensions amongst three criterions after a close look.Finally,it compares three versions of public-justificatory liberalism—political liberalism,liberal pluralism and comprehensive liberalism endorsing personal autonomy—before giving the conclusion that the third one in line with three criterion is the best version of public-justificatory liberalism. |
