John Rawls: An Interpretation
John Rawls: An Interpretation

Summary/Abstract: This article raises some structural and theoretical problems in comprehensivelyreading Rawls. The first part divides Rawls’s oeuvre into two periods: the periodmarked by his most significant work A Theory of Justice (1971), and the periodrepresented by Political Liberalism (1993) and The Law of Peoples (1999). Thearticle examines ideas from all three books. The author first tries to show thecontinuity of Rawls’s liberalism, the best example being the development of the ideaof the priority of right over the idea of the good, and the development of the ideal ofequality. The second aim is to explain the idea of public reason, introduced in Rawls’ssecond period, and related objections, while examining three basic forms ofjustification in Political Liberalism. The author also takes into account Rawls’scriticism of the idea of political philosophy, which he sees as too keen to solve theneeds of political society and less willing to explore the philosophical doctrine’spotential, and his idea of philosophical liberalism as opposed to political liberalism.The third part of the article stresses the principles and norms of international lawand practice, and explains what Rawls calls “realistic utopia” and some relatedproblems.

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