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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... utilitarianism . One reason for this is that it has been espoused by a long line of brilliant writers who have built up a body of thought truly impressive in its scope and refinement . We sometimes forget that the great utilitarians ...
... utilitarianism and intuitionism . Most likely we finally settle upon a variant of the utility principle circumscribed and restricted in certain ad hoc ways by intuitionistic constraints . Such a view is not irrational ; and there is no ...
... utilitarianism . I must also thank R. B. Brandt and Joshua Rabinowitz for their many useful ideas for improvements in the second manuscript ( 1967–1968 ) , and B. J. Diggs , J. C. Harsanyi , and W. G. Runciman for illuminating ...
... Utilitarianism 22 6. Some Related Contrasts 27 7. Intuitionism 34 8. The Priority Problem 40 9. Some Remarks about Moral Theory 46 CHAPTER II . THE PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE 54 10. Institutions and Formal Justice 54 11. Two Principles of ...
... utilitarian and intuitionist conceptions of justice and consider some of the differences between these views and justice as fairness . My guiding aim is to work out a theory of justice that is a viable alternative to these doctrines ...