From Library Journal
With the publication of his first book, A Theory of Justice ( LJ 4/1/72), Harvard philosopher Rawls catapulted himself into the first rank of contemporary political philosophers. His difficult and rewarding book offered an ingenious defense of the "social contract" as binding society together in the interests of not only justice but fairness. With Political Liberalism , his second book, Rawls responds to his critics by confronting the dilemmas inherent in developing a liberal theory of the good society that acknowledges cultural diversity and ethical pluralism. His approach is to "describe the steps whereby a constitutional consensus on certain principles of basic political rights and liberties and on democratic procedures become an overlapping consensus." Not all readers will be satisfied by his solution, but they will be dazzled by his clarity of purpose and logic. Highly recommended for academic libraries.- Kent Worcester, Social Science Research Council, New YorkCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Book News, Inc.
Rawls (philosophy, Harvard) presents eight lectures on the basic elements of political liberalism, its three main ideas, and the institutional framework, continuing and revising the idea of justice as fairness as presented in his earlier work, A Theory of Justice (1971). He redefines a well-ordered society, no longer seeing it as united in its basic moral beliefs, but in its political conception of justice. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

ANNOTATION

A Theory of Justice established Harvard professor John Rawls as one of the most influential political philosophers writing today. While continuing and revising the idea of justice as fairness, Rawls now changes Justice's philosophical interpretation of a homogenous moral society to one with a plurality of incompatible doctrines.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In Political Liberalism John Rawls continues and revises the idea of justice as fairness he presented in A Theory of Justice, but changes its philosophical interpretation in a fundamental way. His earlier work assumed what Rawls calls a "well-ordered society," one that is stable, 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. Indeed, free institutions themselves encourage this plurality of doctrines as the normal outgrowth of freedom over time. Recognizing this as a permanent condition of democracy, Rawls therefore asks, how can a stable and just society of free and equal citizens live in concord when deeply divided by these reasonable, but incompatible, doctrines? His answer is based on a redefinition of a "well-ordered society." It is no longer a society united in its basic moral beliefs but in its political conception of justice, and this justice is the focus of an overlapping consensus of reasonable comprehensive doctrines. Justice as fairness is now presented as an example of such a political conception; that it can be the focus of an overlapping consensus means that it can be endorsed by the main religious, philosophical, and moral doctrines that endure over time in a well-ordered society. Such a consensus, Rawls believes, represents the most likely basis of society unity available in a constitutional democratic regime. Were it achieved, it would extend and complete the movement of thought that began three centuries ago with the gradual if reluctant acceptance of the principle of toleration. This process would end with the full acceptance and understanding of modern liberties.

SYNOPSIS

Revising and continuing the idea of justice and fairness in A Theory of Justice, Rawls poses the question of how a stable and just society of free and equal citizens can live in concord when deeply divided by reasonable and incompatible doctrines. With its distinctive form of liberalism­­resting on an idea of free public reason

FROM THE CRITICS

Times Literary Supplement

An extraordinary well-reasoned commentary on A Theory of Justice. . . . a decisive turn towards political philosophy, as opposed to normative philosophizing on public affairs.

Library Journal

This expanded edition of Rawls's 1993 text includes a new essay, The Idea of Public Reason Revisited, completed before his death. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

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