A Theory of Justice: Original Edition

John Rawls

Harvard University Press, Mar 31, 2005 - Philosophy - 624 pages

John 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.

Though the revised edition of A Theory of Justice, published in 1999, is the definitive statement of Rawls’s view, much of the extensive literature on his theory refers to the original. This first edition is available for scholars and serious students of Rawls’s work.

What people are saying

Review: A Theory of Justice

User Review  - Alex L - Goodreads

BLEH. Never taking a political theory class again. But this book was rather odd...i liked the ideas he proposed, but it wasn't as enjoyable of a read as i thought it would be. Not really my subject matter.

Contents

• Institutions: 193
• Ends: 393
• Index: 589

Bibliographic information

• Title: A Theory of Justice: Original Edition
• Author: John Rawls
• Publisher: Harvard University Press, 2005
• ISBN: 0674257693, 9780674257696
• Length: 624 pages
• Subjects: Philosophy / Political; Political Science / History & Theory