A Theory of Justice

Citation

Rawls, J. (1999). A Theory of Justice (Rev. ed.). Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1971.)

Chapter Summary

The revised edition runs to 538 pages in nine chapters grouped in three parts: Theory (Chapters 1–3), Institutions (Chapters 4–6) and Ends (Chapters 7–9).

Context and Argument

A Theory of Justice first appeared in 1971 and is the first systematic statement of Rawls's theory of justice as fairness, which he went on to rework in Political Liberalism (1993) and Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (2001). The revised edition incorporates changes first made for translations from 1975 onward, which Rawls regarded as improvements, especially to the discussions of liberty and primary goods. A Preface for the Revised Edition explains them.

The book belongs to the social-contract tradition and offers a rival to utilitarianism. Its central claim is that the principles of justice are those that free and rational persons would accept in an initial position of equality. In that hypothetical position, which corresponds to the state of nature in older contract theories, no one knows his or her place in society, class, natural assets or even conception of the good: people choose behind a "veil of ignorance". Rawls argues that they would choose two principles: equal basic liberties for all, and social and economic inequalities arranged to benefit the least advantaged under conditions of fair equality of opportunity. The rest of the book tests this argument against alternatives, applies it to institutions and asks whether a society built on it would be stable and good.

Chapter 1: Justice as Fairness

Part One, Theory. Introduces the subject of justice, the basic structure of society and the original position, and sets the theory against its main rivals, classical utilitarianism and intuitionism, along with the role of considered judgments in moral theory.

Chapter 2: The Principles of Justice

Part One, Theory. Sets out the principles of justice that the rest of the book defends and explains how they are to be understood and ordered.

Chapter 3: The Original Position

Part One, Theory. Describes the original position and the veil of ignorance in detail and argues that the parties in it would choose the two principles over alternatives, above all over the principle of utility.

Chapter 4: Equal Liberty

Part Two, Institutions. Applies the first principle to the basic liberties and the constitutional liberties that rest on them, and explains why liberty takes priority over the second principle.

Chapter 5: Distributive Shares

Part Two, Institutions. Turns to the second principle and the difference principle: how economic and social institutions should be arranged, and what distributive justice requires.

Chapter 6: Duty and Obligation

Part Two, Institutions. Gives an account of the ground and limits of political duty and obligation, drawing on the principle of fairness and natural duties, and discusses civil disobedience and conscientious objection.

Chapter 7: Goodness as Rationality

Part Three, Ends. Develops a theory of the good, built on rational plans of life, that is compatible with the priority of the right.

Chapter 8: The Sense of Justice

Part Three, Ends. Examines how moral sentiments and a sense of justice develop, and whether a just society would be stable.

Chapter 9: The Good of Justice

Part Three, Ends. Argues that justice is part of the good of the persons who live under just institutions, and describes a society as a "social union of social unions" with its own values of community.

Key Concepts

Chapters 1–3: Theory

• Justice as fairness: justice assessed by the principles that free and equal persons would agree to.
• Basic structure: the major social institutions that distribute fundamental rights and duties and shape life prospects.
• Original position and veil of ignorance: the hypothetical choice situation that makes the agreement fair.
• Reflective equilibrium and considered judgments: the method of adjusting principles and particular judgments until they cohere.

Chapters 4–6: Institutions

• Two principles and lexical priority: equal basic liberties first, then fair equality of opportunity and the difference principle.
• Primary goods: the all-purpose means (rights, liberties, opportunities, income, wealth, self-respect) used to compare people's situations.
• Pure procedural justice: a fair procedure that makes the resulting distribution just.
• Principle of fairness and natural duty: the bases of political obligation.

Chapters 7–9: Ends

• Rational plan of life: the notion of the good used in the theory.
• Sense of justice: the moral capacity that stabilises a just society.
• Well-ordered society: a society regulated by a publicly recognised conception of justice.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A systematic structure. The book moves from a choice situation (Part One), to institutions (Part Two), to moral psychology and the good (Part Three), and the publisher notes that it also takes up objections and alternative positions, especially utilitarianism.
• A precise, discussable proposal. The two principles, their ordering and the original-position argument give critics definite targets, so the book is easy to engage with and to argue against.
• A clear account of method. Reflective equilibrium and considered judgments are central terms in the text, so the reasons behind each step can be followed.
• Reach beyond abstract principles. Chapter 6 on civil disobedience and conscientious objection, and Chapter 9 on community, show the theory applied to concrete questions about obligation and social life.

Limitations

• Not Rawls's final word. Rawls reworked justice as fairness for the rest of his life (Political Liberalism, 1993; Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, 2001), so some positions in this book were later revised. The revised edition already changes the treatment of liberty and primary goods.
• Contested at its foundations. The course list includes Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia, written in reply, which argues that individual rights confine the state to a minimal role; and Iris Marion Young's Justice and the Politics of Difference, which challenges the distributive paradigm that followed Rawls in favour of an account built on domination and oppression. Reading Rawls with these critics is part of using him well.
• Demanding reading. At over 500 pages, with three parts and a long argument carried across many sections, it asks for sustained attention, and its terms (lexical priority, the difference principle, the well-ordered society) are defined gradually.

Where It Fits in the Course

This is the central text of the modern political thought list and the one most of the others respond to. Nozick's Anarchy, State, and Utopia is the libertarian reply to Rawls. Kymlicka's Contemporary Political Philosophy is a critical survey of the main Anglo-American schools since Rawls, and a useful companion once the argument is clear. Young's Justice and the Politics of Difference is a later critique of distributive approaches. Adam Swift's Political Philosophy is a short, clearly argued introduction to the central values of the field, and Andrew Heywood's Political Ideologies is a one-tradition-per-chapter survey of the ideologies that shaped modern politics; both are good preparation before Rawls.

How to Use This Book

The book is for advanced undergraduates and graduate students in political theory, philosophy and law. No technical prerequisites are needed, but prior acquaintance with the social-contract tradition and with utilitarianism helps.

A practical plan:

• Core: Chapters 1–3 (Part One), which contain the two principles and the original-position argument. Read the Preface for the Revised Edition first if you are using this edition.
• Application: Chapters 4–6. Chapter 5 is where the difference principle becomes an account of economic institutions; Chapter 6 treats political obligation and civil disobedience.
• Optional on a first reading: Part Three (Chapters 7–9) on the good, moral development and community, which is essential for the full theory but can follow once the first two parts are understood.

For guidance, the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy's entry on Rawls recommends Voice's summary of Rawls's three main books for readers with some undergraduate philosophy, and Mandle's guide to A Theory of Justice for more advanced students. Read slowly, summarise each chapter's argument in a paragraph, and compare it afterwards with a rival such as Nozick's reply or Kymlicka's survey.