New Releases by John Rawls

Neste livro, John Rawls reformula a ideia de uma "sociedade bem-ordenada". Esta sociedade já não é mais interpretada como unida por suas crenças morais fundamentais, e sim por sua concepção política de justiça. A justiça como equidade é agora entendida como um exemplo de tal concepção; e que seja capaz de se converter no objeto de um consenso sobreposto significa que pode ser acatada pelas principais doutrinas religiosas, filosóficas e morais que subsistem ao longo do tempo em uma sociedade bem-ordenada. Tal consenso, Rawls supõe, representa a unidade social que mais possivelmente está ao alcance em um regime democrático constitucional. Esta edição inclui o ensaio "A ideia de razão pública revisitada", que esboça o plano que Rawls tinha de revisar O liberalismo político e que sua morte interrompeu de forma abrupta.

Teoría de la justicia, algunas objeciones y otras posiciones, especialmente el utilitarismo, aplicada a la base filosófica de las libertades constitucionales, el problema de la justicia distributiva y la definición del ámbito y los límites del deber político y la obligación. Incluye un análisis de la desobediencia civil y la objeción al reclutamiento por motivos de conciencia. Además, relaciona la teoría de la justicia con una doctrina del bien y del desarrollo moral.

A partire dalla fine degli anni settanta, John Rawlstenne a Harvard un corso di filosofia morale, confluito in una serie di dispenseripetutamente rimaneggiate negli anni. Il libro, curato da Barbara Herman, suaex allieva e oggi stimata studiosa, e ultimato prima della morte di Rawls chepoté verificarne la versione definitiva, corrisponde alla loro ultima stesura.Queste lezioni sono la prova di come la storia della filosofia possa interagirefelicemente con le questioni odierne, senza tradirne lo spirito. John Rawlsriteneva infatti che in filosofia non si potesse parlare di progressivosuperamento delle teorie del passato, così come se ne parla in fisica o inbiologia. Le teorie del passato sono per lui forme compiute di risposta aquestioni reali che vanno lette nel loro contesto ma che possono dialogarepositivamente con il presente ed essere fonte di ispirazione per la soluzionedei nostri problemi. Rawls non piegava Kant, Leibniz, Hegel alla sua idea digiustizia, ma si sforzava di restituirne il pensiero nella sua integrità..“Questi testi,” diceva, “hanno molto da insegnarci. Io ho sempre dato perscontato che studiamo gli autori che giudichiamo più intelligenti di noi. Senon lo fossero, perché mai dovrei sprecare il mio tempo e quello dei mieistudenti?” Le venti lezioni delineano quattro categorie di ragionamentomorale: perfezionismo, utilitarismo, intuizionismo e costruttivismo kantiano,svolgendo la trama concettuale che da Leibniz e Hume arriva a Kant e Hegel.Offrono al lettore una introduzione a chiavi alla storia della filosofia modernae al filosofo politico l’opportunità di scoprire le fonti storiche delpensiero di uno dei più grandi filosofi del Novecento.Lezionidi storia della filosofia morale è un grande evento, perché esse cirestituiscono l’idea di Rawls dell’etica moderna come impresa unitaria e lasua capacità di comprenderne i temi e problemi di fondo, elementi che hannoispirato il suo pensiero politico.”Charles Larmore.

"Portando a un alto grado di generalizzazione e astrazione la tradizionale teoria del contratto sociale, Rawls propone una teoria della giustizia come equità che ha per oggetto i principi che modellano l'assetto fondamentale delle istituzioni della società. I principi di giustizia sono quelli che persone razionali sceglierebbero in una posizione iniziale di eguaglianza. In questa situazione ipotetica, nessuno conosce la propria posizione nella società, la propria sorte nella distribuzione, naturale e sociale, di doti e capacità.Deliberando dietro un 'velo di ignoranza', gli individui determinano i loro diritti e doveri, accordandosi sullo schema equo (giustificabile per tutte le parti) di distribuzione dei costi e dei benefici della cooperazione sociale. Una teoria della giustizia è un libro di filosofia. Ma, come spesso accade con i migliori lavori filosofici, non è un libro per soli mostri o studiosi di filosofia: esso interessa direttamente le scienze politiche e sociali, dal diritto alla sociologia, dall'economia alla politologia. Infine, esso è un'impresa intellettuale e una sfida per chiunque ritenga rilevante e desiderabile la discussione e l'argomentazione razionale intorno ai principi che modellano le istituzioni di società a tradizione democratica."Salvatore Veca.

John Rawls never published anything about his own religious beliefs, but after his death two texts were discovered which shed extraordinary light on the subject. A Brief Inquiry into the Meaning of Sin and Faith is Rawls’s undergraduate senior thesis, submitted in December 1942, just before he entered the army. At that time Rawls was deeply religious; the thesis is a significant work of theological ethics, of interest both in itself and because of its relation to his mature writings. “On My Religion,” a short statement drafted in 1997, describes the history of his religious beliefs and attitudes toward religion, including his abandonment of orthodoxy during World War II. The present volume includes these two texts, together with an Introduction by Joshua Cohen and Thomas Nagel, which discusses their relation to Rawls’s published work, and an essay by Robert Merrihew Adams, which places the thesis in its theological context. The texts display the profound engagement with religion that forms the background of Rawls’s later views on the importance of separating religion and politics. Moreover, the moral and social convictions that the thesis expresses in religious form are related in illuminating ways to the central ideas of Rawls’s later writings. His notions of sin, faith, and community are simultaneously moral and theological, and prefigure the moral outlook found in Theory of Justice.

Le theme de la religion occupe une place essentielle dans la pensee politique et morale de John Rawls, dont l'oeuvre cherche a comprendre comment des personnes aux croyances inconciliables peuvent neanmoins vivre ensemble dans une societe juste. Deux textes decouverts apres la mort du philosophe (introduits ici par Robert Adams, Joshua Cohen et Thomas Nagel) apportent un eclairage nouveau sur cet aspect de son oeuvre. Le premier, Une breve enquete sur la signification du peche et de la foi, est un essai de theologie morale, redige en 1942 alors que le jeune Rawls envisageait la pretrise. Affirmant la nature communautaire des personnes, il y definit le peche comme le rejet de la communaute et recuse toute vision de la societe comme un contrat. Le second, Sur ma religion, est un texte personnel redige cinquante ans plus tard, qui retrace l'evolution religieuse de Rawls et son eloignement du christianisme apres sa participation a la Deuxieme Guerre mondiale. Dans sa postface, Jurgen Habermas analyse la signification de l'ethique religieuse du jeune Rawls pour sa theorie politique.

This last book by the late John Rawls, derived from written lectures and notes for his long-running course on modern political philosophy, offers readers an account of the liberal political tradition from a scholar viewed by many as the greatest contemporary exponent of the philosophy behind that tradition. Rawls''s goal in the lectures was, he wrote, "to identify the more central features of liberalism as expressing a political conception of justice when liberalism is viewed from within the tradition of democratic constitutionalism." He does this by looking at several strands that make up the liberal and democratic constitutional traditions, and at the historical figures who best represent these strands--among them the contractarians Hobbes, Locke, and Rousseau; the utilitarians Hume, Sidgwick, and J. S. Mill; and Marx regarded as a critic of liberalism. Rawls''s lectures on Bishop Joseph Butler also are included in an appendix. Constantly revised and refined over three decades, Rawls''s lectures on these figures reflect his developing and changing views on the history of liberalism and democracy--as well as how he saw his own work in relation to those traditions. With its clear and careful analyses of the doctrine of the social contract, utilitarianism, and socialism--and of their most influential proponents--this volume has a critical place in the traditions it expounds. Marked by Rawls''s characteristic patience and curiosity, and scrupulously edited by his student and teaching assistant, Samuel Freeman, these lectures are a fitting final addition to his oeuvre, and to the history of political philosophy as well.

Segundo John Rawls, cada pessoa tem uma inviolabilidade fundada na justiça que nem mesmo o bem-estar da sociedade como um todo pode anular. Por isso, numa sociedade justa, os direitos assegurados pela justiça não estão sujeitos à barganha política ou ao cálculo de interesses sociais. Neste livro, o autor tenta dar conta dessas afirmações, que ele acredita expressarem as convicções intuitivas da primazia da justiça.

John Rawls, el principal filósofo contemporáneo del derecho, ejerció a lo largo de tres décadas de docencia en Harvard una profunda influencia en la forma en que la ética filosófica se aborda y se entiende hoy en día. Este libro reúne las lecciones que inspiraron a toda una generación de estudiantes e impulsaron la regeneración de la disciplina. Para Rawls es fundamental conocer los grandes textos de nuestra tradición, pues ello nos permite establecer un fructífero intercambio de ideas a través de los siglos. Desde esta perspectiva, aborda a pensadores como Leibniz, Hume, Kant y Hegel en la medida en que dichos autores intentan definir con brillantez el papel de una concepción moral de la vida humana. Las lecciones conforman cuatro tipos básicos de razonamiento moral: el perfeccionismo, el utilitarismo, el intuicionismo y —objetivo final del curso de Rawls— el constructivismo kantiano. En sí mismas un espléndido curso sobre la historia de la filosofía moral, estas lecciones también nos ofrecen una excelente oportunidad de comprobar cómo John Rawls transformó nuestra visión de esa historia.

" L'idée de raison publique est une partie intégrante du Droit des Peuples, qui étend l'idée du contrat social à la Société des Peuples, et présente les principes généraux qui peuvent et doivent être acceptés par les sociétés libérales et les sociétés non libérales (mais décentes) comme la norme qui régit leur conduite dans leurs rapports mutuels. Pour cette raison, je souhaitais que ces deux textes soient publiés dans le même volume. Ensemble, ils constituent le point culminant de mes réflexions sur la manière dont les citoyens et les peuples raisonnables pourraient vivre paisiblement ensemble dans un monde juste. " L'une des préoccupations de John Rawls dans ce livre est d'affirmer l'universalisme de sa conception tout en évitant le reproche d'ethnocentrisme occidental : diverses sociétés du monde, démocratiques et non démocratiques, peuvent fonder leur coopération pacifique sur leur reconnaissance mutuelle en tant que partenaires égaux comme le font les citoyens d'une démocratie irréductiblement divisés sur le sens du bien. Les principes de justice de la Société des Peuples font ainsi une place à la pluralité des sociétés puisqu'ils peuvent être acceptés aussi bien par les peuples libéraux et démocratiques que par d'autres peuples qui ne le sont pas mais qui restent " décents ", c'est-à-dire qui respectent les droits de l'homme. La même vision permet de poser les conditions d'une guerre juste de la Société des Peuples contre les Etats " hors-la-loi ", et celles de l'aide collective due aux sociétés marquées par des conditions économiques et politiques défavorables.

Few aspects of American military history have been as vigorously debated as Harry Truman''s decision to use atomic bombs against Japan. In this carefully crafted volume, Michael Kort describes the wartime circumstances and thinking that form the context for the decision to use these weapons, surveys the major debates related to that decision, and provides a comprehensive collection of key primary source documents that illuminate the behavior of the United States and Japan during the closing days of World War II. Kort opens with a summary of the debate over Hiroshima as it has evolved since 1945. He then provides a historical overview of thye events in question, beginning with the decision and program to build the atomic bomb. Detailing the sequence of events leading to Japan''s surrender, he revisits the decisive battles of the Pacific War and the motivations of American and Japanese leaders. Finally, Kort examines ten key issues in the discussion of Hiroshima and guides readers to relevant primary source documents, scholarly books, and articles.

John Rawls aims to express an essential part of the common core of the democratic tradition—justice as fairness—and to provide an alternative to utilitarianism, which had dominated the Anglo-Saxon tradition of political thought since the nineteenth century. Rawls substitutes the ideal of the social contract as a more satisfactory account of the basic rights and liberties of citizens as free and equal persons. “Each person,” writes Rawls, “possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override.” Advancing the ideas of Rousseau, Kant, Emerson, and Lincoln, Rawls’s theory is as powerful today as it was when first published. Though the revised edition of A Theory of Justice, published in 1999, is the definitive statement of Rawls’s view, much of the extensive literature on his theory refers to the original. This first edition is available for scholars and serious students of Rawls’s work.

" Dans ce travail, je poursuis deux objectifs. L'un consiste à rectifier les erreurs les plus graves de Théorie de la Justice, qui ont obscurci les idées principales de la Justice comme équité, ainsi que j'ai nommé la conception de la justice présentée dans ce livre. Comme j'ai toujours confiance en ces idées, et que j'estime que les difficultés les plus importantes peuvent être résolues, j'ai entrepris cette reformulation. J'essaie d'améliorer l'exposition, de corriger un certain nombre d'erreurs, d'inclure quelques révisions utiles, et d'esquisser des réponses à certaines des objections les plus communes. Je remanie également l'argumentation à de nombreux stades. " L'autre objectif est de, mettre en relation, dans le cadre d'une présentation unifiée, la conception de la justice présentée dans Théorie de la Justice avec les principales idées qui figurent dans mes essais publiés à partir de 1974. Théorie de la Justice est un livre de plus de six cents pages, et les essais les plus importants (qui sont à peu près une dizaine) portent le total à près de mille pages. De plus, les essais ne sont pas parfaitement compatibles entre eux, et les ambiguïtés de l'exposé de certaines idées - par exemple, celle d'un consensus par recoupement - rendent difficile d'y voir une position claire et cohérente. Le lecteur intéressé a droit à une aide pour comprendre la manière dont les essais et Théorie de la Justice peuvent se compléter, pour déceler les endroits où les révisions interviennent, et pour apprécier le changement qu'elles représentent.

Apresenta palestras proferidas, durante os anos 80, em um curso de filosofia política abrangendo o estudo das obras de teóricos historicamente importantes (Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Mill e Marx) e expondo, também, os elementos fundamentais das idéias do autor.

A trent'anni dalla pubblicazione di Una teoria della giustizia, forse il libro più importante, influente e discusso in ambito filosofico di questi tre decenni, John Rawls presenta la versione definitiva della sua teoria, in un'esposizione insieme più accessibile e rifinita. Giustizia come equità è, come scrive Salvatore Veca nella sua Nota introduttiva, "il frutto maturo della lunga e tenace ricerca filosofica di Rawls che dalla metà degli anni Settanta alla fine del secolo appena concluso si è impegnato puntigliosamente nel riformulare ed esplicitare aspetti importanti della teoria della giustizia, rispondendo ai suoi critici e rivedendo in particolare alcuni errori presenti nella prima formulazione della teoria. La riformulazione della giustizia come equità mira in primo luogo a rendere coerente la teoria normativa e i suoi principi di giustizia per l'assetto delle istituzioni di base della società con la questione del pluralismo come tratto persistente delle società democratiche [...]. Ancora una volta la filosofia politica di Rawls, nella sua riformulazione, chiama in causa la responsabilità intellettuale di chiunque abbia a cuore la qualità della forma di vita democratica".

Welche Bedingungen lassen Völker gerecht und friedlich zusammenleben? Unter welchen Umständen sind Kriege gerechtfertigt? Welche Leitlinien müssen gegeben sein für Organisationen, die eine gerechte Gesellschaft von Völkern mit gleichen Rechten herzustellen vermögen? In acht Grundsätzen für eine gerechte internationale Ordnung entwickelt der amerikanische Philosoph John Rawls einen hypothetischen "Vertrag der Gesellschaft der Völker". Das jüngste Buch von John Rawls ist nach A Theory of Justice 1971, dt. 1975) und Political Liberalism (1993, dt. 1998) ein weiteres wichtiges Werk des bedeutenden amerikanischen Philosophen. Die Originalausgabe (The Law of Peoples, 1999) hat zu heftigen Kontroversen geführt.

This book originated as lectures for a course on political philosophy that Rawls taught regularly at Harvard in the 1980s. In time the lectures became a restatement of his theory of justice as fairness, revised in light of his more recent papers and his treatise Political Liberalism (1993). As Rawls writes in the preface, the restatement presents "in one place an account of justice as fairness as I now see it, drawing on all [my previous] works." He offers a broad overview of his main lines of thought and also explores specific issues never before addressed in any of his writings. Rawls is well aware that since the publication of A Theory of Justice in 1971, American society has moved farther away from the idea of justice as fairness. Yet his ideas retain their power and relevance to debates in a pluralistic society about the meaning and theoretical viability of liberalism. This book demonstrates that moral clarity can be achieved even when a collective commitment to justice is uncertain.

John Rawls’s work on justice has drawn more commentary and aroused wider attention than any other work in moral or political philosophy in the twentieth century. Rawls is the author of two major treatises, A Theory of Justice (1971) and Political Liberalism (1993); it is said that A Theory of Justice revived political philosophy in the English-speaking world. But before and after writing his great treatises Rawls produced a steady stream of essays. Some of these essays articulate views of justice and liberalism distinct from those found in the two books. They are important in and of themselves because of the deep issues about the nature of justice, moral reasoning, and liberalism they raise as well as for the light they shed on the evolution of Rawls’s views. Some of the articles tackle issues not addressed in either book. They help identify some of the paths open to liberal theorists of justice and some of the knotty problems which liberal theorists must seek to resolve. A complete collection of John Rawls’s essays is long overdue.

Esta obra propõe um itinerário para a descoberta e fundamentação racional dos princípios que devem reger a sociedade justa, os quais John Rawls considera que se adequam às convicções intuitivas sobre justiça. A sua argumentação situa-se na confluência de duas correntes culturais distintas - a do utilitarismo e as teorias do contrato social - na linha de Rousseau e de Kant - e visa criticar a primeira corrente, embora sem recusar o seu conteúdo metodológico.

The premier political philosopher of his day, John Rawls, in three decades of teaching at Harvard, has had a profound influence on the way philosophical ethics is approached and understood today. This book brings together the lectures that inspired a generation of students--and a regeneration of moral philosophy. It invites readers to learn from the most noted exemplars of modern moral philosophy with the inspired guidance of one of contemporary philosophy''s most noteworthy practitioners and teachers. Central to Rawls''s approach is the idea that respectful attention to the great texts of our tradition can lead to a fruitful exchange of ideas across the centuries. In this spirit, his book engages thinkers such as Leibniz, Hume, Kant, and Hegel as they struggle in brilliant and instructive ways to define the role of a moral conception in human life. The lectures delineate four basic types of moral reasoning: perfectionism, utilitarianism, intuitionism, and--the ultimate focus of Rawls''s course--Kantian constructivism. Comprising a superb course on the history of moral philosophy, they also afford unique insight into how John Rawls has transformed our view of this history.

Die "Theorie der Gerechtigkeit" ist der wichtigste Beitrag des englischen Sprachraums, vielleicht sogar der wichtigste Beitrag zur Politischen Ethik des 20. Jahrhunderts uberhaupt. John Rawls entwirft hier nicht nur eine weithin uberzeugende Theorie zur Schnittmenge von Ethik und Politischer Philosophie. Ihm gelingt es daruber hinaus, in der philosophischen Debatte eine Reihe von grundlegenden Paradigmenwechseln vorzunehmen. Nach einer Generation intensiver Diskussion ist der Zeitpunkt gekommen, Bilanz zu ziehen. Das geschieht nicht als rein deskriptiver Uberblick uber die bisherige Debatte, sondern in Form eines kooperativen Kommentars. Autoren unterschiedlicher philosophischer Herkunft stellen sich die Frage, wie Rawls Gedanken zu verstehen sind und welche Tragweite, welche Uberzeugungskraft sie fur den kunftigen Diskurs haben."