Rawls' Theory of Justice
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss A Theory of Justice by John Rawls, first published in 1971, a work that's been called the most influential book in 20th-century political philosophy.
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss A Theory of Justice by John Rawls (1921 - 2002) which has been called the most influential book in twentieth century political philosophy. It was first published in 1971. Rawls (pictured above) drew on his own experience in WW2 and saw the chance in its aftermath to build a new society, one founded on personal liberty and fair equality of opportunity. While in that just society there could be inequalities, Rawls’ radical idea was that those inequalities must be to the greatest advantage not to the richest but to the worst off.
With
Fabienne Peter
Professor of Philosophy at the University of Warwick
Martin O’Neill
Professor of Political Philosophy at the University of York
And
Jonathan Wolff
The Alfred Landecker Professor of Values and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford and Fellow of Wolfson College
Producer: Simon Tillotson
Last on
LINKS AND FURTHER READING
Martin O'Neill at the University of York
Jonathan Wolff at the University of Oxford
Fabienne Peter at the University of Warwick
READING LIST
Samuel Freeman, Rawls (Routledge, 2007)
Samuel Freeman (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Rawls (Cambridge University Press, 2002)
Gerald Gaus, The Tyranny of the Ideal (Princeton University Press, 2016)
Jean Hampton, Political Philosophy (Westview Press, 1996)
Christine M. Korsgaard, Sources of Normativity (Cambridge University Press, 1996)
Charles Mills, The Racial Contract (Cornell University Press, 1997)
Susan Moller Okin, Justice, Gender, and the Family (Basic Books, 1991)
Martin O'Neill and Thad Williamson (eds.), Property-Owning Democracy: Rawls and Beyond (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012)
Martin O'Neill and Thad Williamson, ‘Beyond the Welfare State: Rawls's Radical Vision for a Better America’ (Boston Review, 24 October 2012)
Onora O’Neill, Towards Justice and Virtue: A Constructive Account of Practical Reasoning (Cambridge University Press, 1996)
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice: Original Edition (first published 1971; Harvard University Press, 2005)
John Rawls, A Theory of Justice: Revised Edition (Harvard University Press, 1999)
John Rawls, Political Liberalism (Columbia University Press, 2005)
John Rawls, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement (Harvard University Press, 2001)
Samuel Scheffler, ‘The Rawlsian Diagnosis of Donald Trump’ (Boston Review, Feb 12, 2019)
Amartya Sen, Inequality Reexamined (Oxford University Press, 1995)
Jonathan Wolff, An Introduction to Political Philosophy (4th edition, Oxford University Press, 2022)
RELATED LINKS
Jonathan Wolff on John Rawls' A Theory of Justice – Philosophy Bites
John Rawls by Leif Wenar - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
John Rawls (1921-2002) by Henry Richardson - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Rawls at 100 – Boston Review
Liberalism and John Rawls, with Katrina Forrester - The Prospect Podcast #112, December 19, 2019
Broadcasts
- Thu 19 Jan 2023 09:00BBC Radio 4
- Thu 19 Jan 2023 21:30BBC Radio 4
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