The ambition of ‘justifying democracy’ has more and less theoretical aspects, involving more or less emphasis on our pre-philosophical commitments. The prospects for justifying democracy without recourse to pre-philosophical commitments are not good, as we see if we are properly critical of David Estlund’s admirable recent contribution to the democracy literature. What does this mean for political philosophy? We must think hard about the role of justificatory projects with the ambition of doing without pre-philosophical commitments. Such projects are not without a role, but it is a constrained role.
Key words: justifying democracy, Estlund, pre-philosophical commitments, political theory.
