Civic ethics and public reason
Authors
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Nicolás Fuentes-Valdebenito
Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepcicón
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2229-7488
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Isaac Carbajal
Universidad Católica del Maule
https://orcid.org/0009-0001-7022-4822
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Santiago Santiago Ullauri Betancourt
Universidad Hemisferios
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0858-3178
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Abstract
This article examines the tensions between Adela Cortina’s civic ethics and libertarian liberalism as represented by Hayek, Nozick, Mises, and Rothbard. Civic ethics is conceived as a minimal morality grounded in public reason and complemented by cordial reason, aimed at making exclusion visible and fostering active citizenship. Libertarianism, by contrast, upholds the primacy of negative liberty and warns against the paternalism inherent in any state attempt to impose common values. We argue that although structural tensions exist regarding consensus, justice, and the role of the state, a critical articulation is possible: a form of democracy that combines inclusion without imposition and freedom understood not only as the absence of coercion but also as an effective right guaranteed under fair institutional conditions.
