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80th out of 300 books
—
145 voters
Justice as Fairness: A Restatement
by
John Rawls,
Erin Kelly
This book originated as lectures for a course on political philosophy that Rawls taught regularly at Harvard in the 1980s. In time the lectures became a restatement of his theory of justice as fairness, revised in light of his more recent papers and his treatise "Political Liberalism" (1993). As Rawls writes in the preface, the restatement presents "in one place an account...more
Paperback, 214 pages
Published
May 16th 2001
by Belknap Press
(first published 2001)
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Oct 26, 2012
Pierre E. Loignon
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
politique,
philosophie
Rawls ne nous fait pas languir. Dans sa préface, il nous dit d’emblée que les modifications qu’il apporte ici à sa théorie de la justice « sont de trois ordres : il y a d’abord des changements de formulation et de contenu des deux principes de justice dont la justice comme équité fait usage; il y a ensuite des modifications de la manière d’organiser l’argumentation en faveur de ces principes à partir de la position originelle; on trouve enfin des changements qui portent sur la façon dont la just...more
A troubling book to rank. In terms of effort it's hard to dock Rawls anywhere along the way. Rawls is one of the rare political theorists who makes an honest effort to develop a comprehensive theory of (liberal) society and for that he certainly deserves commendation. This book was his last formulation of his justice as fairness theory and he takes the time to respond to his critics which is again worth admiring. If you are going to read Rawls, this is the most current and relevant.
That being s...more
That being s...more
One of the most ubiquitous complaints against Rawls' book that I get is that it is "not realistic", but Rawls points this out. Based on what he calls a "veil of ignorance", Justice as fairness considers a society in which its individuals are unable to consider their own personal interests in making laws that will apply to society as a whole. Rawls points out early on that this is simply a hypothetical condition which should be considered if we are to create just laws for society.
Typically, Rawl...more
Typically, Rawl...more
Since publication of A THEORY OF JUSTICE in 1971, political philosopher John Rawls's conception of "justice as fairness" has been beset by critiques from both left and right. His final work, JUSTICE AS FAIRNESS: A RESTATEMENT (edited and published posthumously) was Rawls's closely-reasoned effort both to meet and overcome these objections and to further flesh out his original theory. On balance, I believe he succeeded on both counts. As with the THEORY, this is reading both illuminating and exha...more
Jul 16, 2008
Brandon
is currently reading it
While I might not agree with everything Rawls as to say (original position, anyone?), he is an integral figure in the development of global political philosophy. I'm not too far into this book, but so far it has given me cause to think.
My CC professor says that John Rawls is the grand daddy of political philosophy.
Rawls's proposal for constructing a fair social contract, his "original position," makes a lot of sense. Also, his suggestion that we don't deserve our "native endowments"—values like hard work and motivation—because they are given to us out of luck (just as we have no say over the family we are born into) is MIND-BOGGLING. He uses this to support the argument that although there can and should exist economic inequal...more
Rawls's proposal for constructing a fair social contract, his "original position," makes a lot of sense. Also, his suggestion that we don't deserve our "native endowments"—values like hard work and motivation—because they are given to us out of luck (just as we have no say over the family we are born into) is MIND-BOGGLING. He uses this to support the argument that although there can and should exist economic inequal...more
An interesting take on morality and law in society, though his theory at its root denies the possibility of ultimate truth for the sake of pragmatics. My clearest memory (watch out - spoiler up ahead) is of his thought experiment to determine the rules of society, with each (imaginary) participant coming with identities erased so that they would not be able to side with any one group and so we would arrive at fairness for all. I think I wrote at least one paper on my issues with this concept, th...more
John Rawls is famous for talking about justice, but less obviously, perhaps, known for his contributions to capitalist apologetics, despite his avowed Left-leaning stance; his famous Difference Principle, whereby that society ought to be chosen which makes the worst off best off, given historical conditions (though Rawls doesn't enter into the revolutionary implications of this view, as is typical for a liberal), provides not only an enunciation of a moral banality, but precisely because it is m...more
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Rawls argues that political liberalism as a modus vivendi is possible. Though I am not convinced that it is our best choice, I am convinced that at least it's a viable starting point. It is very helpful to walk through all the major political conceptions of a Western democracy: liberal socialism, property-owning capitalism, wellfare-state capitalism, political liberalism, comprehensive liberalism, and so on.
To be sure, many of the issues and concepts in Rawls's discussion are also themes of Chi...more
To be sure, many of the issues and concepts in Rawls's discussion are also themes of Chi...more
I gave up on finishing. This is a flat out hard read. I really want to give it five stars, but it is nearly impenetrable to me, so I averaged five stars for importance with one star for readability. Look at this sentence:
Once again recall that the original position is a device of representation: it models, first, what we regard (here and now) as fair conditions for the terms of social cooperation to be agreed to (reflected in the symmetry of the parties' situation); and second, it models what w...more
Once again recall that the original position is a device of representation: it models, first, what we regard (here and now) as fair conditions for the terms of social cooperation to be agreed to (reflected in the symmetry of the parties' situation); and second, it models what w...more
Tis turned out to be one of the most influential books from my poli sci curriculum. One of the few American political philosophers, Rawls' writings on justice are among the most important contributions to creating a truly comprehensive political theory for liberal society.
Rawls has the unfortunate style of an analytic philosopher combined with a lawyer. Nonetheless this is a clear and careful restatement of his seminal book A Theory of Justice. One doesn't have to agree with Rawls' argument in its entirety to appreciate its force and practicable power. Justice as Fairness isn't perfect but it's a theory of perpetual peace that entails personal and political prosperity. I can dig it.
A very good book, but because of its place as a philosophical text it's much longer than it need be. The important points of the book can be summarized in ten pages. I'd rather have read those ten pages than these 201. But that's life.
Along with Political Liberalism among the most important contributions to our American community made by a philosopher.
Feb 15, 2010
elizabeth amber
is currently reading it
reading this for a public administration class, and while rawls is definitely one of the harder reads i've ever come across, when you can get through it, he's pretty good.
There are some elements of Rawls' theory I'm not entirely comfortable with and/or persuaded by, but there is no question that he is a political philosopher of the first rank. I can't tell you how many times I've read his work, developed a possible objection ("Hey, what about...?") that he has already anticipated and rebutted ("Oh."). It's frustrating how misunderstood his work is by people who refuse to read carefully, but I'd encourage everyone interested in political theory to take a first, se...more
A must for lawyers, philosophers, judges, thinkers.
Way clearer than other JR. Still not enough saucy scenes and ribald jibes, though.
Rawls is a great philosopher but this is a difficult read.
Better than "A Theory of Justice" because it's shorter, although not as short as it could be. Maybe 20 pages would cover everything, and that's just because a lot of people are jerks when it comes to money, so it takes some convincing them that they don't deserve most of what they are paid.
Hands down my favorite theory for perpetual peace. I'm not sure how you can argue with an idea this abstract that makes so much sense.
Along with Kevin Phillips and others, this books pretty much shaped my political opinions. Difference Principle, people!
Boom!
May 22, 2013
Kristophine Jason
marked it as to-read
May 19, 2013
Rob Stengel
added it
May 17, 2013
Helette
added it
May 14, 2013
Melissa Hill
marked it as catalogue-of-owned-books
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John Bordley Rawls was an American philosopher and a leading figure in moral and political philosophy. He held the James Bryant Conant University Professorship at Harvard. His magnum opus A Theory of Justice (1971) is now regarded as "one of the primary texts in political philosophy." His work in political philosophy, dubbed Rawlsianism, takes as its starting point the argument that "most reasonab...more
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“Many of our most serious conflicts are conflicts within ourselves. Those who suppose their judgements are always consistent are unreflective or dogmatic.”
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