Book contents
- Rawls’s A Theory of Justice at 50
- Cambridge Philosophical Anniversaries
- Rawls’s A Theory of Justice at 50
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations of and Bibliographic Information for Rawls’s Works
- Introduction
- Part I Rawls and History
- Part II Developments between A Theory of Justice and Political Liberalism
- Part III Rawls, Ideal Theory, and the Persistence of Injustice
- 10 The Circumstances of Justice
- 11 Why Rawls’s Ideal Theory Leaves the Well-Ordered Society Vulnerable to Structural Oppression
- 12 Race, Reparations, and Justice as Fairness
- 13 On the Role of the Original Position in Rawls’s Theory
- Part IV Pluralism, Democracy, and the Future of Justice as Fairness
- References
- Index
10 - The Circumstances of Justice
from Part III - Rawls, Ideal Theory, and the Persistence of Injustice
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 July 2023
- Rawls’s A Theory of Justice at 50
- Cambridge Philosophical Anniversaries
- Rawls’s A Theory of Justice at 50
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Abbreviations of and Bibliographic Information for Rawls’s Works
- Introduction
- Part I Rawls and History
- Part II Developments between A Theory of Justice and Political Liberalism
- Part III Rawls, Ideal Theory, and the Persistence of Injustice
- 10 The Circumstances of Justice
- 11 Why Rawls’s Ideal Theory Leaves the Well-Ordered Society Vulnerable to Structural Oppression
- 12 Race, Reparations, and Justice as Fairness
- 13 On the Role of the Original Position in Rawls’s Theory
- Part IV Pluralism, Democracy, and the Future of Justice as Fairness
- References
- Index
Summary
Political philosophy is shaped by an understanding of the circumstances of justice, which describe the need for justice. This chapter argues that the circumstances of justice should be understood to include contingent facts about the history of the society to be governed, ideally, by principles of justice. In locating structures of domination within the circumstances of justice that motivate the theoretical task, I depart from the approach taken by John Rawls. Though I will not dispute the content of Rawls’s favored principles of justice, I show that when we revise the description of the circumstances of justice, we revise our understanding of the importance of those principles. We can thus add something to what Rawls has to say about the good of justice. One aspect of the good of distributive justice is that it provides a basis for moral repair in the wake of collective wrongdoing.
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- Rawls’s A Theory of Justice at 50 , pp. 169 - 180Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023