Coming to Terms with Procedure: The Potential of the "Ideal Speech Situation" for Michael Walzer's Communitarian JusticeLOGAN ATKINSON
ABSTRACT
Because it attempts to describe a society in which no social good can serve as a means of domination or oppression, Michael Walzer's communitarian theory of distributive justice provides an attractive theoretical framework through which a more egalitarian society might be envisioned. Walzer's communitarianism has been criticized, however, for its failure to provide a practical means to realize fully its theoretical strengths. In this article, the author investigates the elements of a procedural model that might help implement Walzer's theory. The author relies on Jurgen Habermas's "ideal speech situation" as the exemplar of a model of "pure procedure," and identifies points of congruence between Walzer's theory and Habermas's procedure to suggest the possibility of a more complete communitarian theory of distributive justice.
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Citation: (1998) 56(2) U.T. Fac. L. Rev. 223.
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