Rowman & Littlefield Publishers The Public Perspective: Public Justification and the Ethics of Belief

Public debates in our societies are marked by appeals to tradition, religion and even manipulative uses of 'post-truth'. This book argues that the antidote to such tendencies can only be public reasoning. We can find the resources to build what I call the public perspective if we make two commitments: to respect people as free autonomous agents and to endorse a shared ethics of beliefs. An ethics of belief is a set of epistemic and moral rules that inform the beliefs that we bring to the public forum and make possible discussion and confrontation on a terrain that is adequately public. The epistemological aspects cannot be severed from the political commitments that motivate public justification in the first place. An ethics of belief shields us against two temptations: on the one hand, to abandon reason and claim that all sorts of beliefs and opinion should weigh into public reasoning; or, on the other, to appeal to objective reasons only, independently of whether people recognise them as such or not. Review Maria Paola Ferretti's The Public Perspective. Public Justification and the Ethics of Belief constitutes an intriguing and refreshing take on this extremely discussed and controversial topic. In particular, the book is significant in its attempt to find a proper and authoritative place for science and truth within the boundaries of public justification, hence without renouncing the idea that free moral agency should be recognized to all citizens alongside the fact of pluralism...It is important to note that the relevance of the book lies not only in the fact that it addresses pressing problems of contemporary democratic life. The book is also an innovative contribution to the theoretical debate, within which the relation between science and public justification is generally underdeveloped-- "Ethical Theory and Moral Practice"Maria Paola Ferretti argues for an alternative answer to the long-standing question of how to live together notwithstanding ethical pluralism. On the premise of Locke's theory of belief, conveniently revised, she offers an alternative account of political justification, by taking seriously "the reasons that we have, and the reasons that we give others", without any prejudicial exclusion. By appealing to people's common gift of reason and an ethics of belief, Ferretti succeeds in "clarifying what conflicts are really about", making them more tractable.--Sala Roberta, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy, Vita-Salute San Raffaele UniversityThis is an excellent book, with a clear and convincing agenda and a distinct 'take' on issues which are currently both topical and highly challenging for liberal democratic regimes across the world. In recent years the nature and scope of public reason, the role of justification, and the place of agreement in contemporary polities have moved from being relatively abstract-seeming (while crucially important) questions for political theorists, to matters which engage commentators across the public sphere. Ferretti both spells out the significance of these issues, and outlines an engaging and distinctive route by which to explore them.--Gideon Calder, Senior Lecturer in Public Health, Policy and Social Sciences, Swansea UniversityThe debate on liberal public reason has become increasingly intricate and self-referential. In The Public Perspective, Maria Paola Ferretti investigates the under-examined issue of the normative epistemology of belief. Drawing on Locke's epistemology, she advances a distinctive position on reasoned agreement, one which ought to take the public reason debate in a bold and promising new direction. On the structure of liberal theory more generally, Ferretti has innovative and interesting things to say.--Jonathan Seglow, Reader in Political Theory, Royal Holloway, University of LondonA clear argument showing why public justification is crucial for democratic and pluralistic society. Ferretti throws a no