For the musical comedy, see A Theory of Justice: The Musical!
1971 book by John Rawls
A Theory of Justice
Cover of the first American edition
Author
John Rawls
Country
United States
Language
English
Subject
Distributive justice
Publisher
Belknap Press
Publication date
1971
Media type
Print (hardcover · paperback)
Pages
560
ISBN
978-0-674-00078-0
Dewey Decimal
320/.01/1 21
LC Class
JC578 .R38 1999
A Theory of Justice is a 1971 work of political philosophy and ethics by the philosopher John Rawls (1921–2002) in which the author attempts to provide a moral theory alternative to utilitarianism and that addresses the problem of distributive justice (the socially just distribution of goods in a society).
The theory uses an updated form of Kantian philosophy and a variant form of conventional social contract theory. Rawls's theory of justice is fully a political theory of justice as opposed to other forms of justice discussed in other disciplines and contexts.
The resultant theory was challenged and refined several times in the decades following its original publication in 1971. A significant reappraisal was published in the 1985 essay "Justice as Fairness" and the 2001 book Justice as Fairness: A Restatement in which Rawls further developed his two central principles for his discussion of justice. Together, they dictate that society should be structured so that the greatest possible amount of liberty is given to its members, limited only by the notion that the liberty of any one member shall not infringe upon that of any other member. Secondly, inequalities – either social or economic – are only to be allowed if the worst off will be better off than they might be under an equal distribution. Finally, if there is such a beneficial inequality, this inequality should not make it harder for those without resources to occupy positions of power – for instance, public office.[1]
^Voice, Paul (2011). Rawls explained: from fairness to utopia. Open Court. pp. 41–48. ISBN 978-0812696806. OCLC 466334703.
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