ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to advance a more convincing interpretation of reasonableness. It examines the normative content of reasonableness, which is based on political liberalism's fundamental ideas of society, the person and human judgment. The chapter explains how this content leads Rawls to propose criteria of reasonableness for political conceptions of justice and comprehensive religious and philosophical doctrines. It argues that in addition to the general criteria proposed by Rawls, citizens and officials must play an important role in determining which particular doctrines and conceptions of justice are reasonable. The chapter demonstrates how citizens can honor the idea of public reason despite their ongoing disagreement about which claims are true and which political conception of justice is valid, or most reasonable. It further attempts to explain what it means for a citizen to satisfy the criterion of reciprocity by advancing reasonable claims and arguments in public reason.
