The Social Contract and its contentious role for Rawls's 'Theory of Justice'

The Social Contract and its contentious role for Rawls's 'Theory of Justice' PDF

Author: Jan Kercher

Publisher: GRIN Verlag

Published: 2004-03-24

Total Pages: 13

ISBN-13: 3638263355

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject Politics - Political Theory and the History of Ideas Journal, grade: A (85%), University of British Columbia (Department for Political Science), course: Modern Political Thought: John Rawls and his Critics, language: English, abstract: In “A Theory of Justice” (Rawls, 1971), John Rawls tries to develop a conception of justice that is based on a social contract. His approach, doubtlessly, led to a revival of the contract theory in modern political theory. However, his peculiar conception of a hypothetical contract has also evoked a wave of severe criticism. Some of his critics settle for condemning special features of Rawls’s contractual concept, while others maintain that Rawls’s theory is, in effect, no real contract theory. In this paper, I will therefore focus on two research questions: Is Rawls’s theory a genuine contract theory at all? If yes, does the contract play a crucial role in this theory or is there a preferable alternative available to Rawls?

Justice and the Social Contract

Justice and the Social Contract PDF

Author: Samuel Freeman

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2009-04-24

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0199725063

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Samuel Freeman was a student of the influential philosopher John Rawls, he has edited numerous books dedicated to Rawls' work and is arguably Rawls' foremost interpreter. This volume collects new and previously published articles by Freeman on Rawls. Among other things, Freeman places Rawls within historical context in the social contract tradition, and thoughtfully addresses criticisms of this position. Not only is Freeman a leading authority on Rawls, but he is an excellent thinker in his own right, and these articles will be useful to a wide range of scholars interested in Rawls and the expanse of his influence.

A Theory of Justice

A Theory of Justice PDF

Author: John RAWLS

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2009-06-30

Total Pages: 624

ISBN-13: 0674042603

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Though the revised edition of A Theory of Justice, published in 1999, is the definitive statement of Rawls's view, so much of the extensive literature on Rawls's theory refers to the first edition. This reissue makes the first edition once again available for scholars and serious students of Rawls's work.

A Theory of Justice

A Theory of Justice PDF

Author: John Rawls

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2020-07-27

Total Pages: 495

ISBN-13: 0674257677

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Since it appeared in 1971, John Rawls's A Theory of Justice has become a classic. The author has now revised the original edition to clear up a number of difficulties he and others have found in the original book. Rawls aims to express an essential part of the common core of the democratic tradition--justice as fairness--and to provide an alternative to utilitarianism, which had dominated the Anglo-Saxon tradition of political thought since the nineteenth century. Rawls substitutes the ideal of the social contract as a more satisfactory account of the basic rights and liberties of citizens as free and equal persons. "Each person," writes Rawls, "possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override." Advancing the ideas of Rousseau, Kant, Emerson, and Lincoln, Rawls's theory is as powerful today as it was when first published.

A Theory of Justice

A Theory of Justice PDF

Author: John Rawls

Publisher: Belknap Press

Published: 1971

Total Pages: 632

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Since it appeared in 1971, John Rawls's A Theory of Justice has become a classic. The author has now revised the original edition to clear up a number of difficulties he and others have found in the original book. Rawls aims to express an essential part of the common core of the democratic tradition--justice as fairness--and to provide an alternative to utilitarianism, which had dominated the Anglo-Saxon tradition of political thought since the nineteenth century. Rawls substitutes the ideal of the social contract as a more satisfactory account of the basic rights and liberties of citizens as free and equal persons. "Each person," writes Rawls, "possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override." Advancing the ideas of Rousseau, Kant, Emerson, and Lincoln, Rawls's theory is as powerful today as it was when first published.

John Rawls: Reticent Socialist

John Rawls: Reticent Socialist PDF

Author: William A. Edmundson

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-07-10

Total Pages: 223

ISBN-13: 1107173191

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The first detailed reconstruction of the late work of John Rawls, further developing his ideas of 'justice-as-fairness'.