Can a Pluralistic Commonwealth Endure? The Political Problem of Religious Pluralism and Why Philosophers Can't Solve It by Thaddeus J. Kozinski

Abstract

This article considers whether the American pluralist system can satisfy Cicero's definition of a commonwealth as a multitude united in a definition of law and justice. The analysis is based upon a review of Thaddeus Kozinski's book, The Problem or Religious Pluralism and Why Philosophers Can't Solve It. This book critiques the philosophy of John Rawls, Jacques Maritain and Alisdaire MacIntyre. The critique is based upon Cicero's definition of a commonwealth and the article concludes that a society which maintains a deep pluralism over the first principles of law and justice cannot survive as a commonwealth.

Keywords: Pluralism, Natural Law, Cicero, Rawls, Maritain, MacIntyre, Philosophy of Law