Rawls, John (1921–2002)

Abstract

AbstractJohn Rawls was a major twentieth‐century moral and political philosopher. His monumentalA Theory of Justiceprovides a powerful defense of the liberal welfare state and the priority of individual liberty over other values. InTheoryRawls claims that justice is the “first virtue of social institutions,” and attempts to establish principles of distributive justice to govern the workings of society's “basic structure,” its major political, social, and economic institutions. These are the proper focus of distributive justice, because of the decisive influence they exert on people's life prospects.Theoryis credited with reviving normative political philosophy among Anglo‐American philosophers and, since its publication, has served as a model for the practice of political philosophy.