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A Theory of Justice
A Theory of Justice.jpg
The 1999 Harvard University Press edition
Author(s)
John Rawls
Country
United States
Language
English
Subject(s)
Political philosophy
Genre(s)
Non-fiction
Publisher
Belknap
Publication date
1971
Media type
Pages
560
ISBN
0-674-00078-1
OCLC Number
41266156
Dewey Decimal
320/.01/1 21
LC Classification
JC578 .R38 1999
A Theory of Justice is a work of political philosophy and ethics by John Rawls. It was originally published in 1971 and revised in both 1975 (for the translated editions) and 1999. In A Theory of Justice, Rawls attempts to solve the problem of distributive justice (the socially just distribution of goods in a society) by utilising a variant of the familiar device of the social contract. The resultant theory is known as "Justice as Fairness", from which Rawls derives his two principles of justice: the liberty principle and the difference principle.
Contents 1 Objective
2 The “original position”
3 The First Principle of Justice
4 The Second Principle of Justice
5 Relationship to Rawls ' later work
6 Criticism
7 See also
8 References
9 Further reading
Objective[edit]
In A Theory of Justice, Rawls argues for a principled reconciliation of liberty and equality. Central to this effort is an account of the circumstances of justice, inspired by David Hume, and a fair choice situation for parties facing such circumstances, similar to some of Immanuel Kant 's views. Principles of justice are sought to guide the conduct of the parties. These parties are recognized to face moderate scarcity, and they are neither naturally altruistic nor purely egoistic. They have ends which they seek to advance, but prefer to advance them through cooperation with others on mutually acceptable terms. Rawls offers a model of a
References: The Second Principle of Justice[edit] Social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that (Rawls, 1971, p.302; revised edition, p