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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 93
... Economy 258 42. Some Remarks about Economic Systems 265 43. Background Institutions for Distributive Justice 274 44. The Problem of Justice between Generations 284 45. Time Preference 293 46. Further Cases of Priority 298 47. The ...
... economic and social arrangements . Thus the legal protection of freedom of thought and liberty of conscience , competitive markets , private property in the means of production , and the monogamous family are examples of major social ...
... economic theory , of taking the most effective means to given ends . I shall modify this concept to some extent , as explained later ( $ 25 ) , but one must try to avoid introducing into it any controversial ethical elements . The ...
... economic advantage , we are led to these principles . They express the result of leaving aside those aspects of the social world that seem arbitrary from a moral point of view . The problem of the choice of principles , however , is ...
... Economy ( London , 1883 ) applies this doctrine to questions of economic and social justice , and is a precursor of A. C. Pigou , The Economics of Welfare ( London , Macmillan , 1920 ) . Sidgwick's Outlines of the History of Ethics ...