The Rawlsian “overlapping consensus”

A political consensus in a pluralist society

Abstract

The democratic political system seems to feed on a dissent, like the system the more democratic the more space open to what John Rawls called “the fact of (reasonable) pluralism”. However, notwithstanding, it is suggested a need to find a political consensus, at least a minimum basis of understanding, as a basic political unit. Rawls conceives, in this context, an “overlapping consensus”. In this paper we will describe what constitutes the consensus proposed by Rawls as a possibility for a political consensus. We will describe the characteristics that may differ from other(s) type(s) of consensus while inquiring about the need for such a consensus and in what context, in order that society.