John Rawls Justice As Fairness a Restatement Term Paper

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John Rawls reworks the theses contained in his previous works with Justice as Fairness: A Restatement. Rawls' political philosophy is a modern formulation, presupposing a democratic foundation, which seeks to define justice as a purely political concept. Because Rawls' previous work, A Theory of Justice, still contained moral arguments, the author here attempts to divest the concept of justice as fairness from its moral underpinnings. Therefore, with Justice as Fairness: A Restatement, Rawls reformulates the basic theories contained within his former works in order to distinguish the political from the moral or philosophical spheres. Justice as Fairness contains elements found in the theories of political philosophers like Locke, Hobbes, Kant, Hegel, and Marx and the book is a compilation of his political philosophy lectures at Harvard in the 1980s. Rawls systematically analyses the idea of justice as a primarily political concept. He then applies this concept to a workable theory of justice as fairness based on a democratic society. Justice as Fairness fulfills the roles of political philosophy that Rawls himself sets forth in Part 1. Political philosophy fosters cooperation by creating a common ground amid conflict; it orients the individual within a specific time and place; it reconciles conflict because it accepts, and affirms the rationality of democratic institutions; and political philosophy is "realistically utopian," because it allows for "reasonable pluralism," (p. 4). The concept of justice as fairness, as set out by Rawls in his book, is a reasonable, practical, and idealistic political philosophy that not only accepts but encourages reasonable pluralism.

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Among Rawls' fundamental ideas is the concept of the basic structure upon which a democratic society is based. The basic structure is a cooperative, collective underpinning of a democratic society. As such, it is informed and rational, applicable to all citizens. Citizens of a just society are both free and equal, not judged on the basis of their gender, ethnicity, race, history, or economic class. The key to a fair, just, cooperative society is basically a social contract. This contract, like any other contract, is a mutual agreement between parties. Its aim is the common good, regardless of any differences or dissention between parties. Because pluralism is an inescapable and welcome facet of a democratic society, disagreement and dissention are inevitable. What justice as fairness offers is a common theoretical framework from which to find common ground. Because of pluralism, there will be no universal set of values; thus, justice as fairness must not be a moral philosophy if it is to be effective at the political level.

If there are to be no "unfair bargaining advantages" in formulating a cooperative political agreement, a "veil of ignorance" must be established by both parties (p. 15). Rawls posits that there exists an "original….....

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