A Theory of Justice

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Description
"Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as whole cannot override. Therefore in a just society the rights secured by justice are not subject to political bargaining or to the calculus of social interests." THE PRINCIPLES OF justice Rawls set forth in this book are those that free and rational people would accept in an initial position of equality. In this hypothetical situation, which corresponds to the state of nature in social contract theory, no one knows his or her place in society; his or her class position or social status; his or her fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities; his or her intelligence, strength, and the like; or even his or her conception of the good. Thus, deliberating behind a veil of ignorance, people determine their rights and duties. The first section of A Theory of Justice addresses objections to the theory and discusses alternative positions, especially utilitarianism. Rawls then applies his theory to the philosophical basis of constitutional liberties, the problem of distributive justice, and the grounds and limits of political duty and obligation. He includes here a discussion of civil disobedience and conscientious objection. Finally, he connects his theory of justice with a doctrine of the good and of moral development. This enables him to formulate a conception of society as a social union of social unions*, and to use his theory of justice to explain the values of community. Since its first appearance in 1971, A Theory of Justice has been continuously taught and debated, and translated into twenty-four languages. This revised edition includes changes, discussed in the preface, which Rawls considered to be significant, especially to the discussions of liberty and primary social goods.
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Contents
Part I — Theory
Chapter  I    Justice as Fairness
Chapter II    The Principles of Justice
Chapter III   The Original Position
Part II — Institutions
Chapter IV   Equal Liberty
Chapter V    Distributive Shares
Chapter VI   Duty and Obligation
Part III — Ends
Chapter VII  Goodness as Rationality
Chapter VIII The Sense of Justice
Chapter IX   The Good of Justice
Conversion Table
Index
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Author Details
John Rawls was James Bryant Conant university Professor. Harvard University. He is the author of The Law of peoples, Lectures on the History of Moral Philosophy, Collected Papers, and Justice as Fairness 9all from Harvard).
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