A Theory of Justice

Produktbeschreibung

"Each person" writes John Rawls, "possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a 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".

In this book Mr. Rawls attempts to account for these propositions, which he believes express our intuitive convictions of the primacy of justice. The principles of justice he sets forth are those that free and rational persons 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, theoretical, section of the book addresses objections to the theory and alternative positions, especially utilitarianism. The author then applies his theory to the philosophical basis of the constitutional liberties, the problem of distributive justice, and the definition of the ground and limits of political duty and obligation. He includes here discussion of the issues of civil disobedience and conscientious objection. Finally, he connects the 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 the theory of justice to explain the values of community.

Since the appearance ofthe book in 1971, A Theory of Justice has been translated into 23 languages. Revisions to the original English text have been included in translations since 1975. This new English edition incorporates all those revisions, which the author considers to be significant improvements, especially to the discussions of liberty and primary goods. The Preface for the Revised Edition discusses the revisions in some detail. 

Autoreninfo

John Borden Rawls wurde am 21. Februar 1921 in Baltimore, USA geboren und starb am 24. November 2002 in Lexington. Er schloss die berühmte episkopalischen Privatschule in Kent im Jahr 1939 ab und machte vier Jahre später seinen Bachelor of Arts an der Princeton University. Darauf folgte die Promotion in Philosophie und seine Lehrzeit in Princeton. Von 1952 bis 1953 erhielt er ein Fulbright Stipendium für die Universität Oxford in England. Danach arbeitete er als assistant und associate -Professor an der Cornell-Universität in Ithaca, New York, bevor er ab 1962 dort ordentlicher Professor wurde. Von 1970 bis 1972 war er Präsident der American Association of Political and Social Philosophers. Ab 1979 lehrt er Philosophie an der Harvard Universität in Cambridge.