Book

A theory of justice

Rawls, John 1921-2002 (author.).

Summary: This volume is a widely-read book of political philosophy and ethics. Arguing for a principled reconciliation of liberty and equality, it attempts to solve the problem of distributive justice (this concerns what is considered to be socially just with respect to the allocation of goods in a society). The resultant theory is known as "Justice as Fairness", from which the author derives his two famous principles of justice. The first of these two principles is known as the equal liberty principle. The second principle is split into two parts; the first, known as fair equality of opportunity, asserts that justice should not benefit those with advantageous social contingencies; while the second, reflecting the idea that inequality is only justified if it is to the advantage of those who are less well-off, is known as the difference principle.

Item details

ISBN: 0674880145
ISBN: 9780674880146
Physical Description: print
xv, 607 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
Publisher: Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, [1971]
Copyright: ©1971

Contents / Notes

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	Part 1: Theory -- Chapter 1: Justice as fairness -- Role of justice -- Subject of justice -- Main idea of the theory of justice -- Original position and justification -- Classical utilitarianism -- Some related contrasts -- Intuitionism -- Priority problem -- Some remarks about moral theory -- Chapter 2: Principles of justice -- Institutions and formal justice -- Two principles of justice -- Interpretations of the second principle -- Democratic equality and the difference principle -- Fair equality of opportunity and pure procedural justice -- Primary social goods as the basis of expectations -- Relevant social positions -- Tendency to equality -- Principles for individuals: the principle of fairness -- Principles for individuals: the natural duties -- Chapter 3: Original position -- Nature of the argument for conceptions of justice -- Presentation of alternatives -- Circumstances of justice -- Formal constraints off the concept of right -- Veil of ignorance -- Rationality of the parties -- Reasoning leading to the two principles of justice -- Reasoning leading to the principle of average utility -- Some difficulties with the average principle -- Some main grounds for the two principles of justice -- Classical utilitarianism, impartiality, and benevolence.
Awards Note:	American Political Science Association Benjamin E. Lippincott Award, 1987.