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John Rawls Quotes

1921–2002 United States

John Bordley Rawls (21 February 1921 – 24 November 2002) was an American philosopher, and a leading figure in moral and political philosophy. He held the James Bryant Conant University Professorship at Harvard University and the Fulbright Fellowship at Christ Church, Oxford.

United States
Academics
Critics
Essayists
Logicians

Also known as: John B. Rawls, John Bordley Rawls, Rawls, John, Rawlsian

Random John Rawls quote

62 quotes

Justice is the first virtue of social institutions, as truth is of systems of thought.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

The suppression of liberty is always likely to be irrational.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

The intolerant can be viewed as free-riders, as persons who seek the advantages of just institutions while not doing their share to uphold them.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

Social and economic inequalities, for example inequalities of wealth and authority, are just only if they result in compensating benefits for everyone, and in particular for the least advantaged members of society.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

Intuitionism is not constructive, perfectionism is unacceptable.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

Justice is happiness according to virtue.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

Justice does not require that men must stand idly by while others destroy the basis of their existence.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

The circumstances of justice may be described as the normal conditions under which human cooperation is both possible and necessary.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

The hazards of the generalized prisoner's dilemma are removed by the match between the right and the good.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

In justice as fairness society is interpreted as a cooperative venture for mutual advantage.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

The fundamental criterion for judging any procedure is the justice of its likely results.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

The extreme nature of dominant-end views is often concealed by the vagueness and ambiguity of the end proposed.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

To each according to his threat advantage does not count as a principle of justice.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

We may suppose that everyone has in himself the whole form of a moral conception.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

An intuitionist conception of justice is, one might say, but half a conception.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

Indeed, it is tempting to suppose that it is self evident that things should be so arranged so as to lead to the most good.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

Our concern is solely with the basic structure of society and its major institutions and therefore with the standard cases of social justice.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

Justice as fairness provides what we want.

A Theory of Justice (1971)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: John Rawls (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.