 A widely endorsed view regarding the moral basis of public reason appeals to a particular conception of what it means to treat others with the respect they are due. On this view, we treat others as mere means, and not as ends, when we coerce them on the basis of reasons or arguments that they could not reasonably accept. Charles Larmore, for example, argues “to respect another person as an end is to require that coercive or political principles be as justifiable to that person as they presumably are to us” (Larmore 1999, 608). Conversely, “if we try to bring about conformity to a rule of conduct solely by the threat of force, we shall be treating persons merely as means, as objects of coercion, and not also as ends, engaging with their distinctive capacity as persons” (Larmore 1999, 607. Also see Larmore 2002 and Nagel 1987). Public reason is presented as the way of ensuring that our coercion of others is consistent with respecting others as ends: we do this by ensuring our coercive actions and institutions can be justified to all those who are the subjects of coercion. For a different appeal to respect, one that is alleged to render the idea of public reason at least intelligible (rather than ground the idea) see (van Wietmarschen 2021).