The public use of reason
There are at least two ways in which one could understand the word “reason”:
1. instrumental reason (or economical reasoning) is that type of reason which concerns only the means of attaining a goal. If one has the purpose y than whatever one does is reasonable as long as it helps in attaing this goal. Thus we can talk about reason even when the action is illegal or immoral because what matters here is the efficiency. Read more
Public reason
“Public reason is the phrase used by American philosopher John Rawls to refer to the common reason of all citizens in a pluralist society. Public reason is contrasted by Rawls with the nonpublic reason employed by citizens as members of religious associations or as adherents to particular moral and philosophical doctrines.”
( Wikipedia )
