Philosophy 451 - Seminar: Rawls's Theory of Justice

Rawls’s publication of A Theory of Justice (1971) changed the landscape of Anglo-American political philosophy. The book attempts nothing less than a complete theory of justice for modern democratic societies. By 1999, there were at least 5,000 books or articles dealing with it. New works continue to appear yearly. It has been translated into more than 30 languages. It is both loved and hated by thinkers across the political spectrum.

Certain aspects of Rawls’s Theory of Justice are often studied at the undergraduate level. Students are often familiar with both its central question—What form of society would you design if you didn’t know your place within it?—and with some of its more striking theses—for example, that nobody deserves their natural talents because they are the outcome of arbitrary good luck, and that economic inequality is permissible only if it benefits the worst off.

We will be interested in understanding and evaluating these well-known claims. But the purpose of this seminar is to study the book in its entirety. This will involve interrogating Rawls’s theory of law and economy, his treatment of civil disobedience, as well as his meta-ethical views on moral objectivity and judgment. We will also closely study the neglected final part of the book in which Rawls returns to Plato’s question of whether one can live a life that is both happy and just. 

A Theory of Justice is meant to sketch the best version of a society that is in some sense close enough to our own. But American society seems to have drifted very far from its egalitarian vision. We will tarry with this fact.

Limited to 15 students. Prerequisite: Two courses in Philosophy. Fall semester. Professor Rafeeq Hasan. (S or V)

How to handle overenrollment: Preference to majors

Students who enroll in this course will likely encounter and be expected to engage in the following intellectual skills, modes of learning, and assessment: Emphasis on written work, readings, and class participation.