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............................................................................................................................Description"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. To this end he presents his theory 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 place in society; his class position or social status; his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities; his intelligence, strength, and the like; or even his conception of the good. Thus, deliberating behind a veil of ignorance, men determine their rights and duties.In the first, theoretical, section of the book objections to the theory and alternative positions, especially utilitarianism, are attended to. 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.Mr. Rawls believes that utilitarianism has been the dominant systematic moral view for the past two centuries. Here he develops the alternative conception of justice which he regards as implicit in the natural rights theory of the contractarian tradition.John Rawls is James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard University............................................................................................................................ContentsPart 1 - TheoryChapter I - Justice as Fairness 1. The Role of Justice 2. The Subject of Justice 3. The Main Idea of the Theory of Justice 4. The Original Position and Justification 5. Classical Utilitarianism 6. Some Related Contrasts 7. Intuitionism 8. The Priority Problem 9. Some Remarks about Moral Theory Chapter II - The Principles of Justice 10. Institutions and Formal Justice 11. Two Principles of Justice 12. Interpretations of the Second Principle 13. Democratic Equality and the Difference Principle 14. Fair Equality of Opportunity and Pure Procedural Justice 15. Primary Social Goods as the Basis of Expectations 16. Relevant Social Positions 17. The Tendency to Equality 18. Principles for Individuals: The Principle of Fairness 19. Principles for Individuals: The Natural Duties Chapter III - The Original Position 20. The Nature of the Argument for Conceptions of Justice 21. The Presentation of Alternatives 22. The Circumstances of Justice 23. The Formal Constraints of the Concept of Right 24. The Veil of Ignorance 25. The Rationality of the Parties 26. The Reasoning Leading to the Two Principles of Justice 27. The Reasoning Leading to the Principle of Average Utility 28. Some Difficulties with the Average Principle 29. Some Main Grounds for the Two Principles of Justice 30. Classical Utilitarianism, Impartiality, and Benevolence Part 2 - InstitutionsChapter IV - Equal Liberty 31. The Four-Stage Sequence 32. The Concept of Liberty 33. Equal Liberty of Conscience 34. Toleration and the Common Interest 35. Toleration of the Intolerant 36. Political Justice and the Constitution 37. Limitations on the Principle of Participation 38. The Rule of Law 39. The Priority of Liberty Defined 40. The Kantian Interpretation of Justice as Fairness Chapter V - Distributive Shares 41. The Concept of Justice in Political Economy 42. Some Remarks about Economic Systems 43. Background Institutions for Distributive Justice 44. The Problem of Justice between Generations 45. Time Preference 46. Further Cases of Priority 47. The Precepts of Justice 48. Legitimate Expectations and Moral Desert 49. Comparison with Mixed Conceptions 50. The Principle of Perfection Chapter VI - Duty and Obligation 51. The Arguments for the Principles of Natural Duty 52. The Arguments for the Principle of Fairness 53. The Duty To Comply with an Unjust Law 54. The Status of Majority Rule 55. The Definition of Civil Disobedience 56. The Definition of Conscientious Refusal 57. The Justification of Civil Disobedience 58. The Justification of Conscientious Refusal 59. The Role of Civil Disobedience Part 3 - EndsChapter VII - Goodness As Rationality 60. The Need for a Theory of the Good 61. The Definition of Good for Simpler Cases 62. A Note on Meaning 63. The Definition of Good for Plans of Life 64. Deliberative Rationality 65. The Aristotelian Principle 66. The Definition of Good Applied to Persons 67. Self-Respect, Excellences, and Shame 68. Several Contrasts between the Right and the Good Chapter VIII - The Sense of Justice 69. The Concept of a Well-Ordered Society 70. The Morality of Authority 71. The Morality of Association 72. The Morality of Principles 73. Features of the Moral Sentiments 74. The Connection between Moral and Natural Attitudes 75. The Principles of Moral Psychology 76. The Problem of Relative Stability 77. The Basis of Equality Chapter IX - The Good of Justice 78. Autonomy and Objectivity 79. The Idea of Social Union 80. The Problem of Envy 81. Envy and Equality 82. The Grounds for the Priority of Liberty 83. Happiness and Dominant Ends 84. Hedonism as a Method of Choice 85. The Unity of the Self 86. The Good of the Sense of Justice 87. Concluding Remarks on JustificationIndex............................................................................................................................Author DetailsJohn Rawls is James Bryant Conant University Professor, Harvard University............................................................................................................................
