Rawls

by Freeman; Samuel

• ISBN13: 9780415301091
• ISBN10: 0415301092
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2007-07-16
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

In this superb introduction, Samuel Freeman introduces and assesses the main topics of Rawls' philosophy. Starting with a brief biography and charting the influences on Rawls' early thinking, he goes on to discuss the heart of Rawls's philosophy: his principles of justice and their practical application to society. Subsequent chapters discuss Rawls's theories of liberty, political and economic justice, democratic institutions, goodness as rationality, moral psychology, political liberalism, and international justice and a concluding chapter considers Rawls' legacy. Clearly setting out the ideas in Rawls' masterwork, A Theory of Justice , Samuel Freeman also considers Rawls' other key works, including Political Liberalism and The Law of Peoples . An invaluable introduction to this deeply influential philosopher, Rawls is essential reading for anyone coming to his work for the first time.

Author Biography

Samuel Freeman is Professor of Philosophy and Law at the University of Pennsylvania

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments	p. x
List of Abbreviations	p. xviii
Chronology	p. xix
Introduction	p. 1
Biography	p. 1
Motivations Underlying Rawls's Lifework	p. 8
Historical Influences	p. 12
Rawls on Justification in Moral Philosophy: Reflective Equilibrium	p. 29
Liberalism, Democracy, and the Principles of Justice	p. 43
The First Principle of Justice: the Basic Liberties	p. 44
Liberty and the Worth of Liberty	p. 59
The Priority of Liberty	p. 64
Some Objections to the Priority of Liberty	p. 72
Summary	p. 79
The Second Principle and Distributive Justice	p. 86
Fair Equality of Opportunity	p. 88
Economic Justice and the Difference Principle	p. 99
Objections to the Difference Principle	p. 115
Fair Equality of Opportunity and the Difference Principle	p. 125
The Just Savings Principle	p. 136
Conclusion	p. 139
The Original Position	p. 141
The Original Position: Description of the Parties and the Conditions on Choice	p. 142
Arguments from the Original Position	p. 167
Conclusion	p. 197
Just Institutions	p. 199
Applying the Principles of Justice: the Four-Stage Sequence	p. 200
The First Principle of Justice: Specification of Constitutional Rights	p. 209
Constitutional Democracy and Its Procedural Requirements	p. 212
Economic Institutions: a Property-owning Democracy	p. 219
The Institution of the Family	p. 235
The Stability of Justice as Fairness Six	p. 243
Stability and the Sense of Justice	p. 245
Moral Motivation and the Development of a Sense of Justice	p. 253
Goodness as Rationality, the Congruence Problem, and the Aristotelian Principle	p. 263
The Good of Justice and the Kantian Congruence Argument	p. 272
Finality and the Priority of Justice	p. 278
Conclusion	p. 282
Kantian Constructivism and the Transition to Political Liberalism	p. 284
Kantian Constructivism	p. 284
The Independence of Moral Theory	p. 310
The Social Role of a Conception of Justice and Problems with the Kantian Interpretation	p. 315
Political Liberalism I - the Domain of the Political Eight	p. 324
The Problem of Political Liberalism	p. 324
A Freestanding Political Conception of Justice	p. 331
Political Constructivism	p. 351
Political Liberalism II - Overlapping Consensus and Public Reason	p. 365
Overlapping Consensus	p. 366
The Liberal Principle of Legitimacy	p. 371
The Idea of Public Reason	p. 381
The Law of Peoples Ten	p. 416
The Law of Nations	p. 416
The Law of Peoples and Political Liberalism	p. 424
Toleration of Decent Societies	p. 429
Human Rights as the Primary Condition of Social Cooperation	p. 435
The Duty of Assistance	p. 439
Distributive Justice and Rawls's Rejection of a Global Distribution Principle	p. 442
Conclusion	p. 455
Conclusion	p. 457
Rawls's Legacy and Influence	p. 457
Concluding Remarks	p. 460
Glossary	p. 463
Notes	p. 485
Bibliography	p. 515
Index	p. 536
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