Mich: What is ‘public’ about the ‘public interest?’

Eric Boot

Appeals to the concept of the public interest in politics and law are both incredibly frequent and lamentably vague. In my research project I want to see if this is a fruitful concept and, if so, how we ought to understand it. In my talk I wish to briefly sketch a promising understanding of the public interest, which views it as consisting of those interests we share in our role as citizens. I will show how this approach to the concept differs from most public interest theories, as the latter typically start from private, individual interests, rendering it doubtful that they will ever yield a genuinely public interest. Finally, I will explore the possible normative implications of this conceptual analysis.