What is Rawls main theory?

John Rawls (b. 1921, d. 2002) was an American political philosopher in the liberal tradition. His theory of justice as fairness describes a society of free citizens holding equal basic rights and cooperating within an egalitarian economic system.

What is Rawls famous for?

John Rawls, (born February 21, 1921, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.—died November 24, 2002, Lexington, Massachusetts), American political and ethical philosopher, best known for his defense of egalitarian liberalism in his major work, A Theory of Justice (1971).

What are the three principles of Rawls?

Rawls orders the principles of justice lexically, as follows: 1, 2b, 2a. The greatest equal liberty principle takes priority, followed by the equal opportunity principle and finally the difference principle.

Is Rawls a positivist?

Quine in the 1960s brought to light Rawls’s positivist conception of philosophy. Rawls continued to justify political principles by the fact that all reasonable persons endorse them in their political judgments.

What does Rawls mean by the veil of ignorance?

Rawls suggests that you imagine yourself in an original position behind a veil of ignorance. Behind this veil, you know nothing of yourself and your natural abilities, or your position in society. You know nothing of your sex, race, nationality, or individual tastes.

Is Rawls a Kantian?

Rawls’ theory of justice stands in the Kantian tradition. But the idea of a hypothetical social contract is not unproblematic because it is not possible to derive duties from a consent that has in fact never been given.

Why does Rawls dislike utilitarianism?

Rawls’s worry was that utilitarianism may fail to protect the fundamental rights and liberties of persons in its attempt to maximize total social welfare.

Is Rawls A egalitarian?

Rawls’ theory is egalitarian but not necessarily equalizing. It focuses on substantive distributive justice but does not always aim for an equal distribution of all primary goods. Basic rights and liberties must be distributed equally.

What is a Rawlsian citizen?

Rawlsian citizens are not only free and equal, they are also reasonable and rational. The idea that citizens are reasonable is familiar from political liberalism. Reasonable citizens have the capacity to abide by fair terms of cooperation, even at the expense of their own interests, provided that others are also willing to do so.

What are Rawlsian comprehensive doctrines?

First, Rawlsian comprehensive doctrines are systematic views of the world, God, right and wrong, good and bad, just and unjust. As such, the doctrines are complex relations of a great many reasons for action.

What is Rawls’s theory of society?

Rawls makes the simplifying assumption that the society is self-sufficient and closed, so that citizens enter it only by birth and leave it only at death. He also confines his attention mainly to ideal theory, putting aside non-ideal theory such as on criminal justice.

Is classical liberalism grounded in Rawlsian political philosophy?

In fact, there are two distinct, contrasting, and somewhat incompatible methods of grounding classical liberal institutions in Rawlsian political philosophy. The two methods strongly correlate with the lines of reasoning in Rawls’s two books, A Theory of Justice and Political Liberalism.