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Political Liberalism (Columbia Classics in Philosophy) Paperback – March 24, 2005

by John Rawls (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 113 ratings
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This book continues and revises the ideas of justice as fairness that John Rawls presented in A Theory of Justice but changes its philosophical interpretation in a fundamental way. That previous work assumed what Rawls calls a "well-ordered society," one that is stable and relatively homogenous in its basic moral beliefs and in which there is broad agreement about what constitutes the good life. Yet in modern democratic society a plurality of incompatible and irreconcilable doctrines―religious, philosophical, and moral―coexist within the framework of democratic institutions. Recognizing this as a permanent condition of democracy, Rawls asks how a stable and just society of free and equal citizens can live in concord when divided by reasonable but incompatible doctrines?

This edition includes the essay "The Idea of Public Reason Revisited," which outlines Rawls' plans to revise Political Liberalism, which were cut short by his death.

"An extraordinary well-reasoned commentary on A Theory of Justice...a decisive turn towards political philosophy."

―Times Literary Supplement
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  1. Print length
    576 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Columbia University Press
  4. Publication date
    March 24, 2005
  5. Dimensions
    5.9 x 1.3 x 8.9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0231130899
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0231130899
  8. See all details
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About the Author

The late John Rawls was professor emeritus of philosophy at Harvard University. His other books include The Law of Peoples with "The Idea of Public Reason Revisited" and Justice as Fairness: A Restatement. Martha Nussbaum is Ernest Freund Distinguished Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago. She is the author of many books, including Sex and Social Justice, Love's Knowledge, and Hiding from Humanity.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Columbia University Press; Expanded edition (March 24, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 576 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0231130899
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0231130899
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.9 x 1.3 x 8.9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 113 ratings

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John Rawls

John Rawls

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John Rawls was James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University. He was recipient of the 1999 National Humanities Medal.

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4.7 out of 5 stars
113 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Gary E. Thorn
5.0 out of 5 stars A recipe for build ing the perfect society.
Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2014
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John Rawls is an extraordinary modern political philosopher. "Political Liberalism" is book that lays out Rawls theory of the "Reasonable Society". In what can best be described as great novel like prose, Rawls lays out his formula for getting Homo Sapiens to a Reasonable Society.
A Reasonable Society is contrasted by Rawls to that of a Rational Society. While on the surface these two concepts appear to be indistinguishable, they are in fact a good deal different.
A Rational Society is one that is predicated upon logic as its defining concept. A Reasonable Society on the other hand goes beyond this narrower concept of society and adds the idea of man posing a kind of morality in addition to his rational pre-disposition.
Rawls theory as presented in Political Liberalism" is well written and tightly argued in the best tradition of both modern and ancient philosophers. With "Political Liberalism" Rawls take the theories of some our greatest political philosophers and makes a significant contribution to extending their work.

This book is so well written, it can be read and enjoyed by just about anyone. If you ever wondered why or democratic institutions no longer seem to work, where the politics of conflict seem the only realty, when you want to know what makes this country so unique and which holds such promise for the rest of the world, you will see these concepts in a engaging read.
Highly recommend.
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Phil
5.0 out of 5 stars Good price and speedy delivery
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2023
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Luca Igansi
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent improvement of the concepts of "A Theory of Justice"
Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2010
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Here, Rawls tries to improve his argument of "justice as fairness" in "A Theory of Justice" posing it as actually a (one of the most) valid perspective under a political liberalism, in order to ensure equal rights and freedom in a democratic constitutional cooperative society. I would recommend that the first-time interested reader to get a glimpse at "A Theory of justice" (at least the first part) before this one, for a better understanding of his root ideas; for even though it covers most of the TJ's concepts, it does in a form of "restatement" to forfeit the adaptation of his theory due to the flaws he noticed in the first book. But even for the first time reader, it might seem somewhat easy to understand basically what he is trying to say.

One of the greatest books of one of the greatest thinkers, not to say philosophers or politicians of our time. A must-have for anyone regarding subjects from law and democracy to morals and philosophy in general.
10 people found this helpful
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Nick Veltjens
5.0 out of 5 stars A final Revision
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2007
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Rawls has finally brought his powerful project of sociological and political philosophy to a conclusion with insights he may not have expected when he first published Political Liberalism in 1993.
The inclusion of his 'Reply to Habermas', after my having also read Habermas' critique, helped him and specially me to understand the issues raised in that exchange and to enjoy following them. The inclusion also of 'The Idea of Public Reason Revisited' is very worthwhile, as it maps out the amendments he had started to make to Political Liberalism that had been cut short by his death.
7 people found this helpful
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Andy Blunden
4.0 out of 5 stars Rawls' Thought Experiment
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2003
Imagine that the U.S.A. has decided to re-found itself, and you have been elected by a large geographical constituency as one of the founding fathers who must negotiate the principles for a new Constitution; further imagine that you are similarly elected to the Constitutional Convention to draft the new constitution under these principles, the Legislature which translates this constitution into law, and the Supreme Court which interprets this law in the light of experience.

You must do your duty by the people who have elected you and the generations to follow, but your electorate has no specific social character and your only mandate is to found a just constitution which will provide stable conditions for social cooperation and a well-ordered society.

How will you conduct yourself in negotiations with your fellow nation-founders? What kind of reasoning can you rely upon? You have your beliefs, but the others hold to different beliefs. And you are going to have to justify your actions to your constituency which is made up of all kinds of people, with all kinds of beliefs and all kinds of interests. You are going to have to explain yourself in a way which will seem reasonable to people who may not share your beliefs and be acceptable to those who do share your beliefs.

This is the thought experiment which John Rawls invites his readers to conduct. Rawls argues that ever since Catholicism and Protestantism fought each other to a standstill in Renaissance Europe, and the separation of Church and State was accepted as unavoidable, "reasonable pluralism" has become a fact of life for modern societies, and a fact which should be welcomed. He argues that if you conduct such a thought experiment, then you would have to come up with a conception of political liberalism something like that which he develops in his own thought experiment written up as Theory of Justice (1971) and more recently, Political Liberalism (1995).

Whether to endorse slavery, free market capitalism, democratic socialism or recreate a landed aristocracy, it is up to the "parties" to decide in due course, on the basis of the founding principles they decide, but given that the constitution must be defensible in terms which will be counted reasonable by the populace at large, Rawls is confident that such a thought experiment would come up with some kind of political liberalism. Rawls regards the relations of production as a secondary question which can be sorted out in due course, once the institutions of representative democracy and the judiciary have been settled and the citizens can legislate the social system.

In Rawls' books this thought experiment is called the "original position" though Rawls describes it in slightly different terms. Rather than supposing one is elected from large geographical electorates, Rawls proposes a hypothetical "veil of ignorance" so that the delegates do not know the social status of those that they represent nor what social position they may occupy in the state to be founded. Otherwise, his thought experiment pretty much matches the current US Constitution, barring political lobbyists, big business control of election campaigns and the naked play of self-interest within the institutions of really existing democracy.

Thus Rawls does much the same as Kant when he re-invented the Revealed Religion of the 18th century Lutheran Church by means of Reason, and Hegel when he set out to discover what was rational in the reality of early 19th century Prussia, but, it has to be said, in a way which is commensurate with a democratic republic of the 20th century, as a "self-standing" conception, limited to that which could be justified from the standpoint of any comprehensive metaphysical, moral or religious doctrine.

Like Kant and Hegel, Rawls does not validate everything that exists in the present-day U.S.A. as rational; he holds that the high cost of US election campaigns which ensures the restriction of nomination of candidates to the very rich, and the lack of an adequate health service and social safety net which ensures that a substantial proportion of the population cannot pursue the good life, are contrary to the requirements of justice. Nevertheless, for Rawls it is the constitution which decides the distribution of wealth and power, not the other way around.

The "original position" which Rawls characterises as a "representation device," is used to argue for "justice as fairness" as a candidate for an "overlapping consensus" "for the right reasons," which can withstand the test of "public reason" by "rational" and "reasonable" citizens who count one another as "free and equal," as a "self-standing" "political" conception, as opposed to a "comprehensive doctrine," and thus create the basis for a society as a "well-ordered system of social cooperation".
32 people found this helpful
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A4WES
5.0 out of 5 stars Indispensable reading in political philosophy
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2014
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This book is indispensable for understanding contemporary political philosophy. It doesn't replace A THEORY OF JUSTICE for understanding Rawl's theory of justice (but it wasn't meant to), but it is key to understanding the debate between, for example, Rawls (and political liberalism in general) and perfectionism. This book also includes many of Rawls's answers to criticism of his theory as presented in A THEORY OF JUSTICE.
7 people found this helpful
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Francisco Mejia Uribe
5.0 out of 5 stars Still the best
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2016
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This expanded version of Political Liberalism is fantastic. Particularly the closing essay rounds Rawls ideas extremely well and paves the way for better understanding the contested world in which we live in today.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars VOI
Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2015
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still havnt finished it, great book, using a veil of ignorance is the craziest anti psychopathic thing ever, wish i could see it used more often
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Top reviews from other countries

Becca
4.0 out of 5 stars Great for philosophy
Reviewed in Canada on December 9, 2014
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Great for philosophy, politics, law students. This is considered a primary (must-read) text in many disciplines and, although repetitive at times, is fairly accessible and not difficult to get through. Rawls had a big vision.
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