Reconciling public reason liberalism with animal rights

This paper focuses on one of the values that grounds political legitimacy, namely civic respect. The paper suggests that the conditions for a being to be owed public justification are those grounded in Rawlsian political personhood. It argues that there is reasonable disagreement as to whether some animals satisfy these conditions. This reasonable disagreement about the political status of animals entails a risk of civic disrespect and illegitimacy. When a being that satisfies the conditions to be owed public justification is not offered justification, there is a risk of civic disrespect and of illegitimacy, since there is a possibility that political power is not being justified to all those to whom it ought to be justified. In order to mitigate these risks, the paper offers a Precautionary Principle, according to which disagreements about the political status of animals ought to consider the most inclusive view of animals that can be defended by public reasons.