Arguing for a principled reconciliation of liberty and equality, it attempts to solve the problem of distributive justice (this concerns what is considered to be socially just with respect to the allocation of goods in a society). 'About this title' may belong to another edition of this title.This volume is a widely-read book of political philosophy and ethics. To have made such a vision precise, alive, and convincing is a memorable achievement. Without illusion he describes a pluralistic social order that will call forth the support of free men and evoke what is best in them. (Stuart Hampshire New York Review of Books)Ī rich, complicated, and fundamental work.Rawls possesses a deep sense of the multiple connections between social institutions and individual psychology. The most substantial and interesting contribution to moral philosophy since the war. For the topic with which it deals is central to this country's purposes, and the misunderstanding of that topic is central to its difficulties.And the central idea is simple, elegant, plausible, and easily applied by anybody at any time as a measure of the justice of his own actions.

And it is a pleasure to recommend.an indigenous American philosophical masterpiece of the first order.I mean.to press my recommendation of to non-philosophers, especially those holding positions of responsibility in law and government. ( Times Literary Supplement)Įnlightenment comes in various forms, sometimes even by means of books. Indeed, his book might plausibly be claimed to be the most notable contribution to that tradition to have been published since Sidgwick and Mill. It is a convincing refutation, if one is needed, of any lingering suspicions that the tradition of English-speaking political philosophy might be dead. has elucidated a conception of justice which goes beyond anything to be found in Kant or Rousseau.

(Marshall Cohen New York Times Book Review) No higher achievement is open to a scholar. In making his peerless contribution to political theory, John Rawls has made a unique contribution to this urgent task. He also makes clear how wrong it was to claim, as so many were claiming only a few years back, that systematic moral and political philosophy are dead.Whatever else may be true it is surely true that we must develop a sterner and more fastidious sense of justice. makes available the powerful intellectual resources and the comprehensive approach that have so far eluded antiutilitarians. In his magisterial new work.John Rawls draws on the most subtle techniques of contemporary analytic philosophy to provide the social contract tradition with what is, from a philosophical point of view at least, the most formidable defense it has yet received.

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