Abstract

The article is divided into three parts. The first aims to show the presence of an assumption which is typical of Aristotelian metaphysics behind Rawls’ overlapping consensus; the second focuses on an analogy between the Hobbesian state of nature and Rawls’ veil of ignorance, particularly in the light of Hegelian philosophy. The third discusses, in light of what was gained in the first two sections, a weakness that characterises political liberalism: the attempt to assume a universal viewpoint on reality remains, however, a peculiar one, characteristic of certain Western culture and historically marked.