A theory of justice: Rawls and his critics
Details
It is not often that a philosophical theory is turned into a musical comedy…
This session will introduce John Rawls’ A Theory of Justice (1971), one of the most influential works of political, economic, and moral philosophy in the 20th Century. Rawls attempts to describe what a just society would look like, taking into account all we know of past failures. We’ll look into Rawl’s influences, his background assumptions (still widely shared in the Western World), the principles at the core of his theory, his arguments for them, his own revisions of the theory in light of his growing realization of entrenched power concentrations, what critics have been saying ever since – critics from the socialist left, the libertarian right, the feminist reaction, etc. – and, of course, the view from where you are positioned in the social, political, and economic scheme…
Post-Rawls, are we still behind a “veil of ignorance”?
Resources
Philosophize This! (Stephen West), “John Rawls - A Theory of Justice.” Friendly intro for the uninitiated. – podcast
Michael Sandel, “Lecture 15 - John Rawls: The Case for Equality.” Sandel probes student intuitions on distributive justice – video
Jason Brennan, “Rawls’ Distributive Justice” and “Skepticism About Distributive Justice.” Libertarian critique – video
Ed Quish, “John Rawls, Socialist?” How far did Rawls move to the left? – online at Jacobin.com
Ruth Abbey, “Biography of a Bibliography: Three decades of feminist response to Rawls,” Abbey offers a comprehensive survey of feminist reaction to Rawls, both sympathetic and critical – pdf. See also her presentation and discussion “The Rawlsian Legacy for Feminism - Ruth Abbey” – video.
Kimberly A. Yuracko, “Toward Feminist Perfectionism: A Radical Critique of Rawlsian Liberalism.” Feminist critique – pdf
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice - Revised Edition. Rawls’ text. – pdf