1921–2002
John Rawls
Rawls’s A Theory of Justice (1971) asks what principles free and equal persons would accept for the basic structure of society behind a veil of ignorance. Political Liberalism (1993) later asks how such a society can be stable among people who do not share one comprehensive doctrine. He is a reference for individual priority and for constraints on what may be done for the sake of a greater sum. He is not a party label.
Also in the atlas
- Justice as fairness
- The basic structure
- Public reason
Reading, not a syllabus ranking
- A Theory of Justice (1971) — The original position, the two principles, and the critique of utilitarianism.
- Political Liberalism (1993) — Stability, overlapping consensus, and public reason.
Questions for reflection
- Which inequalities would you refuse if you did not know whose place you would occupy?
Rawls is a neighbor of deontology and of individual priority. The questionnaire does not score “Rawlsianism.”