Justice Ethics and Political Philosophy Rawls
divergent views of governance. However, an alternative to the universalism versus relativism debate lies in Rawl's concept of justice as being the fundamental tenet of a constitutional democracy. Rawls also bases his concept of justice and political philosophy on the underlying importance of consensus (Baier, 1989). Interestingly, consensus implies a utilitarian ethical framework, which Rawls (1985) claims to move away from: "as a practical political matter no general moral conception can provide a publicly recognized basis for a conception of justice in a modern democratic state," (p. 225). Rawls means that consensus enables universal justice and fairness, but not a justice rooted in religious or moral… Continue Reading...

