Deep Reasonable Pluralism, Political Confucianism, and the Right to Toleration

This paper connects what I call deep reasonable pluralism, political Confucianism, and the right to toleration and argues that if deep reasonable pluralism is to be taken seriously, the domain of the political must assume some form of political neutrality that necessitates the right to toleration. Specifically, I will first argue that the significance of understanding pluralism in the context of East Asia lies not so much in finding out exactly how pluralistic East Asian societies are but rather how the co-existence of liberalism and Confucianism requires a deep view of reasonable pluralism. Second, I will argue that the right to toleration can be justified by appealing to the reasonableness of citizens without subscribing to any specific comprehensive doctrine. Third, distinguishing between a strong and a weak view of political neutrality, I will argue that taking deep reasonable pluralism seriously inevitably leads to a form of political neutrality, which effectively sets the limit for how Confucian a Confucian state can be without sacrificing non-Confucian citizens’ right to toleration.