Dworkin's Perfectionism
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2018
Editor(s)
Shyamkrishna Balganesh, Ted M. Sichelman, and Henry E. Smith
ISBN
9780199484171
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Language
en-US
Abstract
In this essay, we shall interpret Dworkin's constitutional theory in light of three varieties of perfectionism: (1) the idea that government should undertake a formative project of inculcating civic virtues and encouraging responsibility in the exercise of rights; (2) the idea that we should interpret the American Constitution so as to make it the best it can be; and (3) the idea that we should defend a Constitution-perfecting theory that would secure not only procedural liberties essential for democratic self-government but also substantive liberties essential for personal self-government. We shall identify three gaps left by Dworkin's work and sketch how we have sought to fill those gaps in the spirit of his work through developing a mild form of constitutional perfectionism
Recommended Citation
James E. Fleming & Linda C. McClain,
Dworkin's Perfectionism
,
in
Dignity in the Legal and Political Philosophy of Ronald Dworkin
(Shyamkrishna Balganesh, Ted M. Sichelman, and Henry E. Smith ed.,
2018).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/faculty_scholarship/112
Working paper version.
Please note the file available on SSRN may not be the final published version of this work.
Comments
Published as: "Dworkin’s Perfectionism," in Dignity in the Legal and Political Philosophy of Ronald Dworkin , Lokendra Malik, Salman Khurshid & Veronica Rodriguez-Blanco, eds., Oxford University Press (2018).