A Theory of Justice

by John Rawls (Author)

102 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-8175341753

ISBN-10: 8175341750

Why is ISBN important?

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Share <Embed>

Buy used

$14.97

Condition: Used - Acceptable

In Stock. Sold by MILTON-2014

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

8 Used from $14.97

+ $3.99 shipping

Turn on 1-Click ordering

More Buying Choices

5 New from $132.77 8 Used from $14.97

13 used & new from $14.97

See All Buying Options

Free%20Two-Day%20Shipping%20for%20College%20Students%20with%20Amazon%20Student

A Theory of Justice

Available from these sellers.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Robert Nozick

72

Paperback
$18.99
John Rawls

18

Paperback
$17.74
John Rawls

16

Paperback
$27.62
Susan Moller Okin

3

Paperback
$18.53
John Rawls

12

Paperback
$26.13
Charles W. Mills

32

Paperback
$19.15

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested In These Sponsored Links

(What's this?)

NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE

Product Details

Paperback: 622 pages
Publisher: Universal Law Publishing Co Ltd (December 1, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 8175341750
ISBN-13: 978-8175341753
Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (102 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,575,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2403 in Books > Law > Philosophy
- #2781 in Books > Law > Legal Theory & Systems > Jurisprudence
- #34930 in Books > Textbooks > Law

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested In These Sponsored Links

(What's this?)

Customer Reviews

102

4.0 out of 5 stars

5 star		57%
4 star		17%
3 star		8%
2 star		3%
1 star		15%

Write a customer review

See all 102 customer reviews

Top Customer Reviews

Why so many misconceptions?

ByVincent Poirieron February 27, 2006

Format: Paperback

I'm astonished at the tenor and number of negative reviews "A Theory of Justice" has garnered from the right. This is especially surprising because Rawls shares with American conservatives one fundamental principle: the inviolability of the individual.

A "Theory of Justice" is a technical work aimed at professional philosophers, political scientists, and constitutional law specialists. Nevertheless, the book is understandable by laymen, provided it is read as what it is, i.e. a technical work of moral philosophy and not as a political agenda. Rawls's simple and plain style also makes this book a relatively easy read.

I suspect that the rejection of Rawls by even the more thoughtful conservatives stems from a serious misunderstanding of utilitarianism, which Rawls savagely attacks from the start. Utilitarianism is the moral principle that the TOTAL welfare of a society is the highest value. In practice, the only measure of total welfare the government has is GDP, so that's what we maximize: GDP. This makes utilitarianism attractive to laissez-faire capitalist philosophies, and because Rawls attacks utilitarianism, both the left and the right imagine he is attacking markets, industry, and capitalism. The left have made him their angel, and so the right their demon.

Rawls makes no attack on capitalism, only on utilitarianism. He asserts the inviolability of the individual as society's primary moral principle and demonstrates that this is incompatible with utilitarianism. For example, under utilitarianism, it makes sense to take Bob's heart, give it to Stan, and to give his lungs to John. You've saved two lives by sacrificing one, so society is on the whole better off with two members (Stan and John) rather than just one (Bob). This is obviously wrong and that's why we want to jettison this (im)moral philosophy.

Another misconception is that Rawls does not accept inequality. This is false: Rawls accepts inequality provided that those at the bottom benefit from the inequality. For instance let's say John wants to become rich and so invents a pill that for ten dollars/person eliminates the risk of cancer in his hometown. John sells the pill and becomes rich and everyone is cured from cancer. John is better off than anyone else, but everyone else is better off than they would have been under an egalitarian society.

Yet another misconception is that Rawls wants to establish a Utopian plan for a perfect society. He does not. Rawls is not a revolutionary trying to reinvent society; he is a theoritical moral philosopher, a professional academic researcher, who seeks to isolate the basic principles that define what we mean by "Justice". This is a fair goal and a valid program of study. Everyone wants a just society; after all does anyone campaign for an unjust or unfair society? But we disagree as to what we mean by "Justice".

The real object of Rawls's work is to replace utilitarianism with a better concept of the social good, or of Justice. A Theory of Justice is his attempt at this.

Vincent Poirier, Tokyo

3636 comments 273 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Justice as Fairness

ByD. Craigon February 18, 2002

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This is one of the most important books on social philosophy written in the last century. As the other mis-informed reviews illustrate, Rawls requires careful reading and a conviction to work through his arguments. Basically, Rawls tries to argue for a theory of Justice based on non-utilitarian principles. How can we have a Just Society that preserves individual rights and at the same time functions above the level of anarchy? Tilting too far one way results in a Communistic state that places the group above the individual. Tilting too far the other way results in a state that is a "war of all against all".
Rawls proposes that we arrive at a conception of Justice using minimal assumptions. He uses something called the "Veil of Ignorance" to derive his principles of Justice. This "Veil of Ignorance" assumes we would act in our own self-interest, but we don't know where in society we would end up. Given these two principles, people actint in their own self-interest but not knowing what place they might occupy in society, Rawls argues that we would come up with two principles of Justice; 1) each person has the most extensive basic liberties that are compatible for everyone having these liberties, and 2) social inequalities will be arranged so that they benefit everyone and such that we all have equal access to beneficial social positions.
(Some reviews here apparently feel that Rawls was trying to describe an historical situation with the Veil of Ignorance. I would suggest that they actually read Rawls.)
What Rawls is arguing is that taking a very minimal assumption about human nature (we rationally act in our own self interest) and assuming that no one knows his or her eventual social position, we will come up with these two principles of Justice (Justice as Fairness). A society is Just if it provides the most extensive set of liberties possible to everyone in the society and if it contains ways to balance social inequalities and provide equal access. Most people (even the Ann Rand folk) would agree with the first principle (equal rights), but likely have problems with the second.
Most of the people writing reviews, I believe, have not really read what Rawls has written or understood what they have read. If you want to disagree with Rawls then you must meet him with argument and reason, and not vituperative comment. I may not agree with everything in this book, but I must first understand Rawls' powerful arguments and reasoning before I can propose alternative ideas. Love him or hate him, Rawls cannot be ignored and neither can this book.

44 comments 219 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

The Original Edition isn't for first timers; get the Revised Edition

ByNot me, but somebody elseon November 2, 2009

Format: Paperback

Rawls significantly revised his book after its initial publication, clarifying points and answering criticisms, and he considers the Revised Edition to be the definitive version. But the Original Edition is what comes up in Amazon searches, with no indication that there even is a revised edition, so use the ISBN to do your search to find it:

0-674-00078-1

or

9780674000780

In the introduction, the publishers of the reprinted Original Edition said they wanted it to remain in print mainly for Rawls scholars, to trace his thought.

Rawls says in his introduction to the 1999 publication of the Revised Edition, "This revised text includes what I believe are significant improvements...(and is) superior to the original."

11 comment 111 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Most Recent Customer Reviews

this book sucks so much honestly this guy makes 0 sense who ...

this book sucks so much honestly this guy makes 0 sense who cares about this topic not me not anyone; pointless read

Published 1 month ago by Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Great book, interesting reading. Needed it for college class.

Published 2 months ago by Dealyn

Five Stars

A masterpiece thought for tomorrow

Published 2 months ago by giano giorgio bolognesi

Four Stars

I recommend this book. It is very good!

Published 2 months ago by Amazon Customer

Rawls rules

This book is a major contribution to contemporary political philosophy and will shape discussions of justice for decades to come, as it has been doing since it was published.

Published 3 months ago by Richard Condon à Bruxelles

Great book. Best value on amazon.

Published 4 months ago by aspiringdoc

Five Stars

Exactly as described.

Published 4 months ago by Aniello F.

Rawls is the man!

Good book. Had bought it for a political philosophy course, which I really liked. Very abstract and hard to understand, though.Read more

Published 4 months ago by Felix F.

Inside the Vacuum Chamber of the Progressive Mind

Rawls was surely a fellow who liked to hear himself talk. He says the same things over and over and over again.

Published 4 months ago by W. Kevin Hazzard

but it was better than I expected

I needed this actually for my examen, but it was better than I expected. Though saturated with the American way of thinking, which is not necessarily a bad thing.Read more

Published 4 months ago by Tuomas Paavilainen

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?

A Theory of Justice Paperback

John Rawls

102

$32.97
Anarchy, State, and Utopia Paperback

Robert Nozick

72

$18.99
Political Liberalism (Columbia Classics in Philosophy) Paperback

John Rawls

18

$17.74
Justice as Fairness: A Restatement Paperback

John Rawls

16

$27.62

Conditions of Use
Privacy Notice
Interest-Based Ads

6pm Score deals on fashion brands	AbeBooks Rare Books & Textbooks	ACX Audiobook Publishing Made Easy	Alexa Actionable Analytics for the Web	Amazon Business Everything For Your Business	AmazonFresh Groceries & More Right To Your Door

AmazonGlobal Ship Orders Internationally	Home Services Handpicked Pros Happiness Guarantee	Amazon Inspire Free Digital Educational Resources	Amazon Video Direct Video Distribution Made Easy	Amazon Web Services Scalable Cloud Computing Services	Audible Download Audio Books

BeautyBar.com Prestige Beauty Delivered	Book Depository Books With Free Delivery Worldwide	Casa.com Kitchen, Storage & Everything Home	ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics	CreateSpace Indie Print Publishing Made Easy	Diapers.com Everything But The Baby

DPReview Digital Photography	East Dane Designer Men's Fashion	Fabric Sewing, Quilting & Knitting	Goodreads Book reviews & recommendations	IMDb Movies, TV & Celebrities	Junglee.com Shop Online in India

Kindle Direct Publishing Indie Digital Publishing Made Easy	Prime Now FREE 2-Hour Delivery on Everyday Items	Prime Photos Unlimited Photo Storage Free With Prime	Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands	Soap.com Health, Beauty & Home Essentials	TenMarks.com Math Activities for Kids & Schools

Wag.com Everything For Your Pet	Warehouse Deals Open-Box Discounts	Whispercast Discover & Distribute Digital Content	Woot! Deals and Shenanigans	Yoyo.com A Happy Place To Shop For Toys	Zappos Shoes & Clothing

A Theory of Justice

Sorry, there was a problem.

Sorry, there was a problem.

Turn on 1-Click ordering

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested In These Sponsored Links

Product Details

Customers Viewing This Page May Be Interested In These Sponsored Links

Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

Most Recent Customer Reviews

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?