John Rawls: Pioneer Character Educator
John Rawls
Pioneer Character
Educator
By
Meredith Layton
EDGR 502: Developing Character Through Curriculum
July 10, 2014
“Many of our most serious conflicts are conflicts within ourselves. Those who suppose their judgements are always consistent are unreflective or dogmatic.”
― John Rawls, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement
Rawls’ Character Values
Loyalty – His principles first held the commitment that “each person is to have an equal right to…basic liberties.” (Rawls, 1971)
Self-knowledge/ empathy – He theorized that “social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are…reasonably expected to be to everyone’s advantage.”
(Rawls, 1971) He believed that “taking up this point of view, we are to imagine ourselves in the position of free and equal persons…” (Freeman, 2012)
Honesty - His original position, a feature of the “justice as fairness” concept, “is designed to be a fair and impartial point of view that is to be adopted in our reasoning about fundamental principles of justice.” (Freeman, 2012)
Admirable Qualities
Courage – “After completing his first degree a semester early, Rawls
[enlisted in] the US army and, as an infantryman, saw action in New
Guinea and the Philippines.” (Rogers, 2002)
Resilience - Rawls lost two younger brothers during his childhood. They
“died of diseases contracted from [John].” In 1928, Bobby died after contracting diphtheria and the following winter Tommy contracted
John’s pneumonia and died. (Pogge, 2007)
Influence – “John Rawls was one of the most influential political philosophers of the twentieth century.” He also “has enjoyed the rare privilege of being read by a broad range of non-philosophers, especially students of politics and law.” (Cohen, 2008)
Dedication – John’s dedication to his work is evident in his numerous articles and publications, most notably A Theory of Justice in 1971 and
Justice as Fairness: A Restatement published in 2001.
Pioneer Character
Educator
By
Meredith Layton
EDGR 502: Developing Character Through Curriculum
July 10, 2014
“Many of our most serious conflicts are conflicts within ourselves. Those who suppose their judgements are always consistent are unreflective or dogmatic.”
― John Rawls, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement
Rawls’ Character Values
Loyalty – His principles first held the commitment that “each person is to have an equal right to…basic liberties.” (Rawls, 1971)
Self-knowledge/ empathy – He theorized that “social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are…reasonably expected to be to everyone’s advantage.”
(Rawls, 1971) He believed that “taking up this point of view, we are to imagine ourselves in the position of free and equal persons…” (Freeman, 2012)
Honesty - His original position, a feature of the “justice as fairness” concept, “is designed to be a fair and impartial point of view that is to be adopted in our reasoning about fundamental principles of justice.” (Freeman, 2012)
Admirable Qualities
Courage – “After completing his first degree a semester early, Rawls
[enlisted in] the US army and, as an infantryman, saw action in New
Guinea and the Philippines.” (Rogers, 2002)
Resilience - Rawls lost two younger brothers during his childhood. They
“died of diseases contracted from [John].” In 1928, Bobby died after contracting diphtheria and the following winter Tommy contracted
John’s pneumonia and died. (Pogge, 2007)
Influence – “John Rawls was one of the most influential political philosophers of the twentieth century.” He also “has enjoyed the rare privilege of being read by a broad range of non-philosophers, especially students of politics and law.” (Cohen, 2008)
Dedication – John’s dedication to his work is evident in his numerous articles and publications, most notably A Theory of Justice in 1971 and
Justice as Fairness: A Restatement published in 2001.