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Rawls uses the concepts of narrow and wide reflective equilibrium in his discussion of how we might justify a particular "conception of political justice" in Justice As Fairness: A Restatement.

He refers to this form of justification as "nonfoundationalist" because no element (e.g., considered judgment or level of generality) carries the "whole weight of public justification."

We should not picture a set of ideas in wide reflective equilibrium as a structure resting on a base of, say, self-evident moral principles or strongly held specific judgments. It is, rather, a coherent whole in which any element can be adjusted to fit the others. It can be called "holistic" rather than "foundationalist" and might better be pictured as a circle or a sphere.

In Rawls words, "The most reasonable political conception for us is the one that best fits all our considered convictions on reflection and organizes these into coherent view. At any given time, we cannot do better than that."


Reference: John Rawls, Justice As Fairness: A Restatement, p, 31.