John Rawls : reticent socialist / William A. Edmundson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Edmundson, William A. (William Atkins), 1948- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rawls, John, 1921-2002--Political and social views.

Justice.

Liberalism.

Political stability.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 212 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2017.

Summary:

This book is the first detailed reconstruction of the late work of John Rawls, who was perhaps the most influential philosopher of the twentieth century. Rawls's 1971 treatise, A Theory of Justice, stimulated an outpouring of commentary on 'justice-as-fairness,' his conception of justice for an ideal, self-contained, modern political society. Most of that commentary took Rawls to be defending welfare-state capitalism as found in Western Europe and the United States. Far less attention has been given to Rawls's 2001 book, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement. In the Restatement, Rawls not only substantially reformulates the 'original position' argument for the two principles of justice-as-fairness but also repudiates capitalist regimes as possible embodiments. Edmundson further develops Rawls's non-ideal theory, which guides us when we find ourselves in a society that falls well short of justice.

Contents:

Introduction

Conceptions of property in the original position

Property-owning democracy versus liberal socialism

Fair value and the fact of domination

The four-stage sequence

The circumstances of politics

Rescuing the difference principle

The special psychologies

Socialism and stability

The common content of the two regimes

The property question

Religion and reticence

Non-ideal theory : the transition to socialism.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 11 Aug 2017).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-316-80025-3

1-316-80536-0

1-316-80463-1

1-316-80609-X

1-316-80901-3

1-316-77993-9

1-316-80682-0