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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... of society as a whole cannot override . For this reason justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others . It does 3 Chapter I: Justice as Fairness 1. The Role of Justice.
... reason to suppose ahead of time that the principles satisfactory for the basic structure hold for all cases . These principles may not work for the rules and practices of private associations or for those of less comprehensive social ...
... reason for beginning with ideal theory is that it provides , I believe , the only basis for the systematic grasp of these more pressing problems . The discussion of civil disobedience , for example , depends upon it ( 8 $ 55–59 ) . At ...
... reason to 3. Nicomachean Ethics , 1129b_1130b5 . I have followed the interpretation of Gregory Vlastos , “ Justice and Happiness in The Republic , ” in Plato : A Collection of Critical Essays , edited by Vlastos ( Garden City , N.Y. ...
... reason in principle why the greater gains of some should not compensate for the lesser losses of others ; or more importantly , why the violation of the liberty of a few might not be made right by the greater good shared by many . It ...