The main aim of this paper is to provide a reflection about the function of the idea of the basic structure of society for a public justification of the moral principles in the John Rawls's theory of justice as fairness, especially in works such as Political Liberalism (Lecture VII) and Justice as Fairness: A restatement (I, § 4, 9; II, § 15, 16), with a view to identifying a coherentist and pragmatical justification model, analyzing the role of the background justice category in this justificational context.
Public justification; basic structure of society; background justice