A Theory of Justice

E91452

book work of political philosophy

A Theory of Justice is a landmark work of political philosophy that develops a liberal theory of justice based on the principles that would be chosen behind a “veil of ignorance” in an original position of equality.

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Observed surface forms (1)

Surface form	Occurrences
1971: A Theory of Justice	1

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	book ⓘ work of political philosophy ⓘ
academicDiscipline	philosophy ⓘ political theory ⓘ
advocates	maximin decision rule in the original position ⓘ priority of basic liberties over social and economic advantages ⓘ
aimsAt	reconciling liberty and equality ⓘ
arguesAgainst	classical utilitarian aggregation of welfare ⓘ
author	John Rawls ⓘ
centralQuestion	how to define a just basic structure of society ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
followedBy	Justice as Fairness: A Restatement ⓘ Political Liberalism ⓘ
genre	moral philosophy ⓘ political philosophy ⓘ
hasEdition	revised edition 1999 ⓘ
influenced	contemporary political philosophy ⓘ distributive justice debates ⓘ liberal egalitarian theory ⓘ theories of welfare state liberalism ⓘ
influencedBy	Immanuel Kant ⓘ Immanuel Kant's moral philosophy ⓘ Jean-Jacques Rousseau ⓘ John Locke ⓘ social contract tradition ⓘ
introducesConcept	original position as a hypothetical choice situation ⓘ veil of ignorance as a device of representation ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
mainConcept	justice as fairness ⓘ liberal egalitarianism ⓘ original position ⓘ principles of justice ⓘ social contract theory ⓘ veil of ignorance ⓘ
methodology	constructivism in moral theory ⓘ reflective equilibrium ⓘ
opposesView	utilitarianism ⓘ
partTitle	Ends ⓘ Institutions ⓘ Theory ⓘ
proposesPrinciple	equal basic liberties for all persons ⓘ fair equality of opportunity ⓘ social and economic inequalities arranged to benefit the least advantaged ⓘ
publicationDate	1971 ⓘ
publisher	Harvard University Press ⓘ
recognizedAs	landmark work of 20th-century political philosophy ⓘ
setsIn	hypothetical original position of equality ⓘ
structure	three main parts ⓘ

Referenced by (13)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Justice as Fairness: A Restatement → clarifies → A Theory of Justice ⓘ

veil of ignorance → describedIn → A Theory of Justice ⓘ

Justice as Fairness: A Restatement → follows → A Theory of Justice ⓘ

Political Liberalism → follows → A Theory of Justice ⓘ

1993: Political Liberalism → follows → A Theory of Justice ⓘ

subject surface form: Political Liberalism

The Law of Peoples → follows → A Theory of Justice ⓘ

Political Liberalism → influencedBy → A Theory of Justice ⓘ

Political Liberalism → isRevisionOf → A Theory of Justice ⓘ

1993: Political Liberalism → isRevisionOf → A Theory of Justice ⓘ

subject surface form: Political Liberalism

John Rawls → notableWork → A Theory of Justice ⓘ

John Rawls → publicationDateOfWork → A Theory of Justice ⓘ

this entity surface form: 1971: A Theory of Justice

The Law of Peoples → relatedWork → A Theory of Justice ⓘ

Justice as Fairness: A Restatement → updates → A Theory of Justice ⓘ