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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... example , depends upon it ( 8 $ 55–59 ) . At least , I shall assume that a deeper understanding can be gained in no other way , and that the nature and aims of a perfectly just society is the fundamental part of the theory of justice ...
... standpoint of justice . For example , if a man knew that he was wealthy , he might find it rational to advance the principle that various taxes for welfare measures be counted unjust ; if he knew that he 18 Justice as Fairness.
... example , that the concepts of the right and the good are 18. Intuitionist theories of this type are found in Brian Barry , Political Argument ( London , Routledge and Kegan Paul , 1965 ) , see esp . pp . 4–8 , 286f ; R. B. Brandt ...
... example , the claims of skill , training , effort , responsibility , and the hazards of the job , as well as to make some allowance for need . No one presumably would decide by any one of these precepts alone , and some compromise ...
... example , suppose that allocative efficiency , full employment , a larger national income , and its more equal distribution are accepted as social ends . Then , given the desired weighting of these aims , and the existing institutional ...