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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... things equal , one conception of justice is preferable to another when its broader consequences are more desirable . 2. THE SUBJECT OF JUSTICE Many different kinds of things 6 Justice as Fairness.
... things that we are faced with in everyday life . The 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 ...
... thing , that there is a broad measure of agreement that principles of justice should be chosen under certain conditions ... things that are irrelevant from the standpoint of justice . For example , if a man knew that he was wealthy , he ...
... things should be arranged so as to lead to the most good . It is essential to keep in mind that in a teleological theory the good is defined independently from the right . This means two things . First , the theory accounts for our ...
... things equal ; whereas the second principle serves as a standard of justice constraining the pursuit of aggregate ... thing , at different combinations of total satisfaction and degrees of equality , we presumably would give these ...