John Rawls at 100

John Rawls was born 100 years ago today. (And A Theory of Justice was published 50 years ago this year.)

 

I only saw Rawls once. It was at his 1993 Amnesty Lecture where he presented the initial version of his “The Law of Peoples” (later expanded into the 1999 book). I remember being quite unimpressed at the time (ah, youthful arrogance!).

 

Years later, when I started working on my dissertation, I was determined to refute Rawls’s “political liberalism,” and especially the idea of “public reason.” However, I thought it best to present the strongest possible version of Rawls’s views before “demolishing” them. Two years later I finished up a dissertation defending Rawlsian political liberalism. Careful consideration of his arguments had convinced me that he was right after all, despite my initial opposition.

 

I’ve been something of a “Rawls plumber” ever since…

 

As a matter of academic genealogy, Rawls is my “grandfather,” as he was the advisor of Elizabeth Anderson, who was my PhD co-advisor at the University of Michigan. (Perhaps surprisingly, I turned out to be far more of a “Rawlsian” than Anderson.)

 

The Boston Review has some articles on Rawls available here. I haven’t read them all, but I recommend the ones by Joshua Cohen, Martin O’Neill, and Thad Williamson.

Revised schedule for Political Egalitarianism seminar

 

 

Thanks to some suggestions from colleagues, I've revised the readings for my "Political Egalitarianism" seminar. The revised schedule is below. The only changes to the required readings are for weeks 13 and 14, but I've also added some optional readings for weeks 2, 3, 4, 7, and 14. (My thanks to M. Lister, A. Thomas, and M. Palynchuk for their recommendations.)

The course description can be found in the previous post.

01. Justice as fairness: overview (February 2^nd + 4^th)  

 

o       John Rawls (2001) Justice as Fairness (Harvard University Press), Part I (pp. 1-38).

 

§  Optional:

·       L. Wenar (2017) “John Rawls,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, §§1-4. [https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/rawls/]

 

02. Justice as fairness: the principles of justice and the original position (February 9^th + 11^th)

 

o       J. Rawls (2001) Justice as Fairness (Harvard UP), Parts II and III (pp. 39-134).

 

§  Optional:

·       S. Freeman (2019) “Original Position,” The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, E. N. Zalta (ed.), [https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/original-position/]. 

·       J. Mandle (2014) “The Choice from the Original Position,” in A Companion to Rawls, ed. J. Mandle (Wiley Blackwell), pp. 128-143.

 

03. Justice as fairness: property-owning democracy and stability (February 16^th +18^th)

 

o       J. Rawls (2001) Justice as Fairness (Harvard UP), Parts IV and V (pp. 135-202).

o       S. Freeman (2013) “Property-Owning Democracy and the Difference Principle,” Analyse & Kritik, 35 (1), pp. 9-36. [Reprinted in: S. Freeman (2018) Liberalism and Distributive Justice, chapter 4.]

 

§  Optional: 

·       R. Krouse & M. McPherson (1988) “Capitalism, ‘Property-Owning Democracy,’ and the Welfare State,” in Democracy and the Welfare State, ed. A. Gutmann (Princeton University Press), pp. 79-105.

·       Colin Macleod (2014) “Applying Justice as Fairness to Institutions,” in J. Mandle & D. Reidy (eds.) A Companion to Rawls (Wiley Blackwell): 164-84.

·       N. Daniels (2003) “Democratic Equality: Rawls’s Complex Egalitarianism”, in S. Freeman (ed.) The Cambridge Companion to Rawls (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 241-276.  

·       A. Thomas (2020) “Freeman on Property-Owning Democracy,” Philosophy and Public Issues 10 (1), pp. 45-68. [http://fqp.luiss.it/files/2020/09/PPI_01_2020.-3.-Alan-Thomas_Freeman-on-Property-Owning-Democracy.pdf]

 

04. Is social justice a ‘mirage’? Hayek against/for Rawls (February 23^rd + 25^th)

 

o       F. A. Hayek (1993) “‘Social’ or Distributive Justice,” in Justice, ed. A. Ryan (Oxford University Press), pp. 117-158. [From: F. A. Hayek (1982) Law, Legislation, and Liberty, Vol. II: The Mirage of Social Justice.] 

o       Andrew Lister (2013) “The ‘Mirage’ of Social Justice: Hayek Against (And For) Rawls,” Critical Review: A Journal of Politics and Society 25: 3-4, pp. 409-444.

 

§  Optional:

·       See the reading by Meshelski (topic 07).

 

05. Rawlsian liberal socialism – part I (March 2^nd + 4^th)

 

o       William Edmundson (2020) “What Is the Argument for the Fair Value of Political Liberty?” Social Theory and Practice 46 (3), pp. 497-514.

o       W. Edmundson (2017) John Rawls: Reticent Socialist (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press):  Introduction and Chapters 1-3 (pp.1-64).

 

06. Rawlsian liberal socialism – part II (March 9^th + 11^th)

 

o       W. Edmundson (2017) John Rawls: Reticent Socialist: Chapters 4-9 (pp. 65-138).

 

07. Rawlsian liberal socialism – part III (March 16^th + 18^th)

 

o       W. Edmundson (2017) John Rawls: Reticent Socialist: Chapters 10 and 12 (pp. 139-169; 186-199).

o       Paul Weithman (2019) “Review of W. Edmundson, John Rawls: Reticent Socialist,” Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews [https://ndpr.nd.edu/news/john-rawls-reticent-socialist/#_edn16]

o       Lea Ypi (2018) “The Politics of Reticent Socialism,” Catalyst 2 (3). [https://catalyst-journal.com/vol2/no3/the-politics-of-reticent-socialism]

 

§  Optional:

·       W. Edmundson (2017) John Rawls: Reticent Socialist: Chapter 11 (pp. 170-185). 

·       W. Edmundson (2019) “Précis of John Rawls: Reticent Socialist,” Ethical Perspectives 26 (2), pp. 323-327.

·       Kristina Meshelski (2019) “Rawls’s Socialism and Pure Procedural Justice,” Ethical Perspectives 26 (2), pp. 343-347. 

·       A. Thomas (2019) “Edmundson on Neo-Liberalism: Towards a ‘Left Rawlsian’ Political Economy,” Ethical Perspectives 26 (2), pp. 352-358.

·       W. Edmundson (2019) “Replies to Commentators,” Ethical Perspectives 26 (2), pp. 371-384 [especially replies to Meshelski and Thomas].

 

08. Rawlsian free market liberalism (March 30^th + April 1^st)

 

o       J. Tomasi (2012) “Democratic Legitimacy and Economic Liberty,” Social Philosophy and Policy 29 (1), pp. 50-80. 

o       C. M. Melenovsky and Justin Bernstein (2015) “Why Free Market Rights are not Basic Liberties,” The Journal of Value Inquiry 49 (1-2), pp. 47-67.

o       A. Thomas (2020) “Rawls on Economic Liberty and the Choice of Systems of Social Cooperation,” in J. Mandle and S. Roberts-Cady (eds.) John Rawls: Debating the Major Questions (Oxford University Press), pp.109-121.

 

§  Optional:

·       J. Rawls (2005) “The Basic Liberties and Their Priority,” in Political Liberalism, expanded edition (Columbia University Press), pp.289-371.

·       S. Arnold (2013) “Right-wing Rawlsianism: A Critique,” The Journal of Political Philosophy 21 (4), pp. 382-404. 

·       J. Tomasi (2012) Free Market Fairness (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

 

April 2^nd: Philosophy Department talk by William Edmundson: “When the Market Swerved Right.”

 

09. Capitalism and alternatives to it (once more) (April 6^th + 8^th)

 

o       Jeppe von Platz (2020) “Democratic Equality and the Justification of Welfare-State Capitalism,” Ethics 131 (1), pp. 4-33.

o       Martin O’Neill (2021) “Social Justice and Economic Systems: On Rawls, Democratic Socialism, and Alternatives to Capitalism,” Philosophical Topics 49 (1).

 

§  Optional:

·       Julius Sensat (2016) The Logic of Estrangement (Palgrave MacMillan), Chapter 7 (pp. 157-187). 

·       T. Malleson (2014), “Rawls, Property-Owning Democracy, and Democratic Socialism,” Journal of Social Philosophy 45, pp. 228-251.

·       R. Taylor (2014) “Illiberal Socialism,” Social Theory and Practice, July 2014, 40(3), pp. 433-60.  

·       K. Vallier (2015), “A moral and economic critique of the new property-owning democrats: on behalf of a Rawlsian welfare state,” Philosophical Studies 172, pp. 283-304.

 

10. Cohenite socialism (April 13^th + 15^th)

 

o       G. A. Cohen (2009) Why Not Socialism? (Princeton University Press).

 

11. Debating Cohenite socialism (April 20^th + 22^nd)

 

o       C. V. Schoelandt (2013) “Markets, Community, and Pluralism,” The Philosophical Quarterly (advance access), pp. 1-8.

o       A. Archer (2016) “Community, Pluralism, and Individualistic Pursuits: A Defense of Why Not Socialism?” Social Theory and Practice 42 (1), pp. 57-73.

 

§  Optional:

·       Pablo Gilabert (2011) “Feasibility and Socialism,” Journal of Political Philosophy 19, pp. 52-63.

·       R. Miller (2010) “Relationships of Equality: A Camping Trip Revisited,” Journal of Ethics 14. 

·       Miriam Ronzoni (2012) “Life is not a camping trip – on the desirability of Cohenite socialism,” Politics, Philosophy & Economics 11/2, pp. 171-185.

 

12. Luck egalitarianism and relational egalitarianism (April 27^th + 29^th)

 

o       G. A. Cohen (1989) “On the Currency of Egalitarian Justice,” Ethics 99 (4), pp. 906-944. 

o       Elizabeth Anderson (1999) “What is the Point of Equality?” Ethics 109 (2), pp. 287-337.

 

§  Optional:

·       J. Wolff (1998) “Fairness, Respect, and the Egalitarian Ethos,” Philosophy & Public Affairs 27, pp.97-122.

·       S. Scheffler (2003) “What Is Egalitarianism?” Philosophy & Public Affairs 31, pp. 5-39. 

·       M. O’Neill (2008) “What Should Egalitarians Believe?” Philosophy & Public Affairs 36, pp. 119-156.

·       D. Miller (2015) “The Incoherence of Luck Egalitarianism,” in A. Kaufman (ed.) Distributive Justice and Access to Advantage: G. A. Cohen’s Egalitarianism (Cambridge University Press), pp. 131-150. 

·       S. Freeman (2007) “Rawls and Luck Egalitarianism,” in S. Freeman, Justice and the Social Contract (Oxford University Press), pp. 111-142.

 

  13. Luck egalitarianism and relational egalitarianism – continued (May 4^th + 6^th)

 

o       P. Tomlin (2015) “What is the Point of Egalitarian Social Relationships?” in A. Kaufman (ed.) Distributive Justice and Access to Advantage: G. A. Cohen’s Egalitarianism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), pp. 151-179. 

o       E. Anderson (2010) “The Fundamental Disagreement between Luck Egalitarians and Relational Egalitarians,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy, S.V. 36, pp.1-23.

 

§  Optional: 

·       Anca Gheaus (2016) “Hikers in Flip-Flops: Luck Egalitarianism, Democratic Equality, and the Distribuenda of Justice,” Journal of Applied Philosophy 35 (1), pp. 54-69.

·       Shlomi Segall (2007) “In Solidarity with the Imprudent: A Defense of Luck Egalitarianism,” Social Theory and Practice 33 (2), pp. 177–198.

 

14. Luck egalitarianism and relational egalitarianism – one last time (May 11^th + 13^th)

 

o       K. Lippert-Rasmussen (2015) “Luck Egalitarians versus Relational Egalitarians: On the Prospects of a Pluralist Account of Egalitarian Justice,” Canadian Journal of Philosophy 45 (2), pp. 220-241. 

o       Ian Carter (2011) “Respect and the Basis of Equality,” Ethics 121 (3), 538-571.

 

§  Optional:

·       Chiara Cordelli (2015) “Justice as Fairness and Relational Resources,” The Journal of Political Philosophy 23 (1), pp. 86-110. 

·       C. Schemmel (2011) “Why Relational Egalitarians Should Care About Distributions,” Social Theory and Practice 37 (3), pp. 365-390.