John Rawls: Reticent Socialist by William A Edmundson

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Summary

This book is the first detailed reconstruction of the late work of John Rawls. It focuses on Rawls's presentation of two regime types capable of realizing 'justice-as-fairness': property-owning democracy and liberal socialism. Long mistaken as an apologist for welfare-state capitalism, Rawls emerges here as an understated advocate of socialism.

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John Rawls: Reticent Socialist by William A Edmundson

This book is the first detailed reconstruction of the late work of John Rawls, who was perhaps the most influential philosopher of the twentieth century. Rawls's 1971 treatise, A Theory of Justice, stimulated an outpouring of commentary on 'justice-as-fairness,' his conception of justice for an ideal, self-contained, modern political society. Most of that commentary took Rawls to be defending welfare-state capitalism as found in Western Europe and the United States. Far less attention has been given to Rawls's 2001 book, Justice as Fairness: A Restatement. In the Restatement, Rawls not only substantially reformulates the 'original position' argument for the two principles of justice-as-fairness but also repudiates capitalist regimes as possible embodiments. Edmundson further develops Rawls's non-ideal theory, which guides us when we find ourselves in a society that falls well short of justice.
'Edmundson has written an admirably concise yet powerful book' Nick Cowen, The Review of Politics
'John Rawls: Reticent Socialist is a valuable contribution to the debate about which social institutions best allow us to treat each other as moral equals.' Nick Cowen, The Review of Politics
'It is one of the greatest merits of William Edmundson's analysis in John Rawls: Reticent Socialist to unambiguously bring out Rawls's profound hostility to a capitalist society characterized by both economic exploitation and political domination, where those with more money and resources can undermine the fair value of political liberties by exerting disproportionate influence on political processes that further entrench their accumulated advantage.' Lea Ypi, Catalyst
William A. Edmundson is Regents Professor of Law and Philosophy at Georgia State University College of Law. He is the author of Three Anarchical Fallacies (Cambridge, 1998) and An Introduction to Rights (Cambridge, 2012), and editor of The Duty to Obey the Law (1999) and The Blackwell Guide to the Philosophy of Law and Legal Theory (2004). He is also the series editor of the Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy and Law.
SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781316625774
ISBN 10 131662577X
Title John Rawls: Reticent Socialist
Author William A Edmundson
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Year published 2018-05-10
Number of pages 222
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.