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John Rawls: A Theory Of Social Justice

Decent Essays

John Rawls in his ‘A Theory of Justice’ (Rawls , Revised edition 2009) aims to work out a theory of social justice that is a viable alternative to other doctrines, which have long dominated our philosophical tradition. While the author acknowledges that most citizens and institutions recognize the principle of social justice, he also underlines that their conceptions on the distribution of basic rights and duties are influenced by their interests and hence are not always to the advantage of all citizens. In fact, Rawls argues that the prevailing Utilitarian and Intuitive theories, work on the principle of maximum benefits for the greatest amount of people, or the assumption that men born into different positions have different expectations …show more content…

His philosophy is based on a system that acknowledges inequalities and ensures a weighted distribution of social cooperation, rights and duties on the basis of individual conditions because
“ justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by a greater good shared by others and does not allow that the sacrifices imposed on a few are outweighed by the large sum of advantages enjoyed by many (Rawls 2009, pg 3). It is the author’s firm belief that, a just or fair system of social justice, ensures that all citizens have equal liberties of thought and action and basic social and economic rights such as health, education and property, in order to live a dignified life. This is achieved by compensating persons with weaknesses, so that they may access the full range of opportunities that are available to others , necessary both to live a dignified life and

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