From Practical Reasoning to The Right of Religious Freedom:

Perfectionist Considerations in Robert George

Abstract

This article, through bibliographical methodology, has the purpose of investigating the foundation of the right to religious freedom from the perfectionism advocated by Robert George, an author belonging to the New Natural Law Theory. As a political theory, perfectionism holds that the state should not remain neutral on the issue of the good life, promoting the good and discouraging the bad. Thus, if the right to religious freedom is based on the basic human good of religion, that is, a fundamental reason for acting and a constitutive aspect of human flourishing, the State must promote it. However, would such a perfectionist view threaten freedom by not respecting the plurality of beliefs existing in society? It is argued that not, insofar as perfectionism, very restricted and limited, protects the right to religious freedom with strong reasons and rational incentives, and should be chosen over anti-perfectionist liberal theories.