A Theory of Justice: Original EditionJohn Rawls aims to express an essential part of the common core of the democratic tradition—justice as fairness—and to provide an alternative to utilitarianism, which had dominated the Anglo-Saxon tradition of political thought since the nineteenth century. Rawls substitutes the ideal of the social contract as a more satisfactory account of the basic rights and liberties of citizens as free and equal persons. “Each person,” writes Rawls, “possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override.” Advancing the ideas of Rousseau, Kant, Emerson, and Lincoln, Rawls’s theory is as powerful today as it was when first published. |
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... theory can be developed so that it is no longer open to the more obvious objections often thought fatal to it . Moreover , this theory seems to offer an alternative systematic account of justice that is superior , or so I argue , to the ...
... theory of the good . The notion of primary goods based on the conception discussed in Chapter VII is the result . I also owe him thanks , along with Norman Daniels , for pointing out difficulties with my account of utilitarianism as a ...
... justice and what I call the general conception of justice is similar to that proposed by S. I. Benn . I am grateful to him , and to Lawrence Stern and Scott Boorman , for suggestions in this direction . The substance of Norman Care's ...
Original Edition John Rawls. CHAPTER I. JUSTICE AS FAIRNESS In this introductory chapter I sketch some of the main ideas of the theory of justice I wish to develop . The exposition is informal and intended to prepare the way for the more ...
... justice makes their secure association together possible . Among individuals with disparate aims and purposes a shared conception of justice establishes the bonds of civic friendship ; the general desire for justice limits the pursuit ...