Justice as Fairness
John Rawls
Rawls published Justice as Fairness in The Philosophical Review in April 1958, in volume 67, number 2. He argues that the principles of justice are the ones that would be agreed by people settling the terms of their association without knowing which position in it they would end up occupying. The link is to Rawls's Collected Papers, edited by Samuel Freeman for Harvard in 1999, where this is the third essay; it should not be confused with the later book Justice as Fairness: A Restatement.
Why you should read this
This early essay lays out the two principles of justice Rawls would later expand into A Theory of Justice, framing fairness as what free and equal people would agree to from a position stripped of self-interest. Useful background for readers coming to the later book first.
- Field
- Political Philosophy
- Form
- Non-fiction
- Published
- 1958
- Themes
- JusticePolitical Philosophy
