| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立臺北大學 === 法學系 === 95 === Abortion is one of the most important and controversial subjects of modern time, and “the idea of public reason” may be Rawls' most representative theory. Thus, it is worth investigating how “the idea of public reason” can help to solve the ongoing debate of abortion when said idea is applied on the issue of abortion. In chapter two, this essay explicates the traditional idea of liberalism, on which Rawls' theory is based. As a liberalist, Rawls followed the universal concept in his early age. Then he attempted to refine it, making it easier to solve the problems concerning constitutional essentials and matters of basic justice. In chapter three, this essay explicates “the idea of public reason”, which is the most crucial concept of this essay. By explaining the content, limitation, difficulties, and its statements made about family, plus the overlapping consensus, we could grasp the concept of “the idea of public reason” as much as possible. This way we also explain why it is possible to apply “the idea of public reason” on abortion, which has long been considered a family issue. In chapter four, this essay explicates the subject of abortion, including its definition and what have been discussed in the United States and Germany. In order to reveal the key points of dispute surrounding abortion, the important court decisions regarding abortion from the courts of the US and Germany and the opinions of scholars are introduced in this chapter as well. In chapter five, this essay tries to solve the impasse of abortion by applying “the idea of public reason”. This chapter also describes whether the issue of abortion contains political evaluation that meets public reason. Through the above-mentioned discussion, we may come to the conclusion that “the idea of public reason” indeed helps to reach a reasonable answer to a political controversial issue concerning constitutional essentials and matters of basic justice, although it can not promise the most reasonable one. The idea of overlapping consensus and the idea of public reason, which being addressed by Rawls, help to discover a reasonable solution to abortion and other debates concerning constitutional essentials and matters of basic justice.
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