Modus Vivendi and the Motivations for Compliance

In this chapter, I am concerned with modus vivendi as a way of including what I call ‘non-reasonable’ people in a liberal society. I first need to explain what I mean by non-reasonable people and then what inclusion involves, starting from the Rawlsian framework but going beyond it. After clarifying who the ‘non-reasonable’ are, I will argue for a specific modus vivendi as a form of political settlement that allows both reasonable and non-reasonable people to live together without coercion, in a peace- ful and relatively stable way. I thus clearly assume the value of a peaceful and relatively stable coexistence, construed as a precondition for anyone to pursue their life projects, whatever they may be. Hence, I see liberal political philosophy as committed to coping with disagreement insofar as it represents a threat to peaceful order. I see the goal of political philosophy as eminently practical, aiming at conciliating the various subjects that inhabit the public domain—i.e. institutions, groups and individuals. My idea of conciliation takes the form of a modus vivendi: modus vivendi is the proper way to cohabit efficaciously with others, despite their conflicting views.