JOHN RAWLS'S AGENTS IN INTERNATIONAL THEORY OF JUSTICE. THE CONSISTENCY ISSUE
JOHN RAWLS'S AGENTS IN INTERNATIONAL THEORY OF JUSTICE. THE CONSISTENCY ISSUE

Summary/Abstract: Various directions of criticism have developed from Rawlsian thinking on international society and international justice. One main criticism regarding Rawls’s choice of and arguments for the agents in the international position comes from cosmopolitan thinkers. Thomas Pogge, in particular, speaks of an alleged `incoherence` between Rawls's two theories of justice and, in order to explain this `incoherence`, much emphasis is placed on the choice of agents in Rawlsian model of representation of the original position.In this paper, I will focus on Pogge's criticism regarding Rawls’s choice of agents and I will show that some recent attempts have been conducted and have succeeded, through various mechanisms of thought, to `reconcile` the Rawlsian domestic and international theories of justice, providing a defence to the Rawlsian choice of agents and, sometimes, a rehabilitation of `peoples` as a concept. I will then challenge a discussion on the limitations in both Pogge's and some of his critics' arguments regarding the participation of individuals in an international original position.

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