Pizhuhish nāmah-i intiqādī-i mutūn va barnāmah hā-yi ̒ulūm-i insāni (Critical Studies in Texts & Programs of Human Sciences)

Critical Review of John Rawls's Theory of Justice with Emphasis on the Scope and Definition of Justice

Document Type : Research

Author

Mohammad Nemati

Assistant Professor of Economics in Islamic Studies & Economics Faculty Imam Sadiq University

Abstract
It can be claimed that the subject of justice is the basis and the source of different theories  as well as affairs management  in the arena of human social life. Social science theorists cannot escape from resorting to a concept and theory of justice in order to prove or justify their theory in any of these sciences. In the analysis of each theory of justice, three factors are considered:
 • First, the basis of justice: what does the theory think about the basis of justice? The answer to this question also identifies the methodology of the theorist of justice in explaining his or her conception of justice.
• Second, the scope of justice: What is the scope and area in which the theory of ​​justice is offered?
• Third, the definition of justice: What does the concept of justice represent?
Rawls, in the Theory of Justice, has tried to answer all three questions, and the same integrity makes Rawls' theory of justice, among remarkable ideas of justice in recent decades. In this paper, while introducing the general structure of the book and a brief reconstruction of his theory, criticisms of the book, with emphasis on two factors - the scope and the definition of justice - in Rawls theory, are discussed.

Keywords

The theory of justice
John Rawls
the principle of difference
the veil of ignorance
original position
the reflective equilibrium

Subjects

تلیس، رابرت (1385)، فلسفة رالز، ترجمة خشایار دیهیمی، تهران: طرح نو.
نعمتی، محمد (1392)، «نقد و بررسی مبانی و روش‌شناسی نظریة عدالت جان رالز»، دوفصل‌نامة علمی ـ پژوهشی مطالعات اقتصاد اسلامی، س 5، ش 9.
Kagan, S. (1992), “The Structure of Normative Ethics”, Philosophical Perspectives, vol. 6.
Konow, J. (2003), “Which Is the Fairest One of All? A Positive Analysis of Justice Theories”, Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 41, no. 4.
Mill, John Stuart (1859), On Liberty, Kitchener: Batoche Books.
Mill, John Stuart (1863), Utilitarianism, Kitchener: Batoche Books.
Rawls, J. (1971), A Theory of Justice, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Revised edition, 1999.
Sen, Amartya (2009), The Idea of Justice, Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

  • Receive Date 03 October 2016
  • Revise Date 31 October 2016
  • Accept Date 10 December 2016

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