The Public and the Political as Normative Concepts

The authors discuss the content and interrelations between the normative categories of «public» and «political», as well as specific features of public justification. The paper also analyzes the resources of various kinds of public discourse which uses the concepts of power and justice. The political is treated as a procedure of interaction between the private and the public resulting in providing opportunities for individuals to occupy certain institutional political positions. The article shows the resources of public justification for solving value and normative conflicts, as well as similarities and differences between public and scientific justification.

Keywords: the public, the political, normativity, power, justice, discourse, public and scientific justification.