John Rawls

John Rawls was an influential American political philosopher in the liberal tradition. His work 'A Theory of Justice' (1971) is notable for its introduction of the concepts of 'original position' and 'veil of ignorance' as methods for determining the principles of justice. Rawls' philosophy has had a profound impact on modern political and moral philosophy, advocating for a society in which the distribution of rights and opportunities is fair and equal.

Books

This list of books are ONLY the books that have been ranked on the lists that are aggregated on this site. This is not a comprehensive list of all books by this author.

  1. 1. A Theory of Justice

    This book presents a seminal work in modern political philosophy, where the author proposes a model of justice that, despite being egalitarian, respects individual rights. The author's "veil of ignorance" thought experiment, which suggests designing society from an original position where no one knows their future place in society, has been particularly influential. The author argues that this would lead to a system where each individual is assured basic liberties and socio-economic inequalities are only allowed if they benefit the least advantaged members of society.