Why Political Liberalism?

1. Auflage 2016
ISBN: 978-0-19-539303-3
Verlag: ACADEMIC

Buch, Englisch, 388 Seiten, Format (B × H): 161 mm x 240 mm, Gewicht: 754 g

Reihe: Oxford Political Philosophy

The book draws very heavily on Part III of "Theory of Justice," a part of Rawls's magisterial first book that is too often neglected and misunderstood
It shows that Rawls, both early and late, was moved by a precise, game-theoretic concern: that a just society would be destabilized by a generalized prisoner's dilemma
The book provides a unified interpretation of Rawls's turn to political liberalism
At crucial points, the interpretation draws some support from Rawls's recently published "Lectures in the History of Moral Philosophy" and "Lectures in the History of Political Philosophy"

In WHY POLITICAL LIBERALISM?, Paul Weithman offers a fresh, rigorous, and compelling interpretation of John Rawls's reasons for taking his so-called "political turn". Weithman takes Rawls at his word that justice as fairness was recast as a form of political liberalism because of an inconsistency Rawls found in his early treatment of social stability. He argues that the inconsistency is best seen by identifying the threats to stability with which the early Rawls was concerned. One of those threats, often overlooked by Rawls's readers, is the threat that the justice of a well-ordered society would be undermined by a generalized prisoner's dilemma. Showing how the Rawls of "A Theory of Justice" tried to avert that threat shows that the much-neglected third part of that book is of considerably greater philosophical interest, and has considerably more unity of focus, than is generally appreciated.

Weithman painstakingly reconstructs Rawls's attempts to show that a just society would be stable, and just as carefully shows why Rawls came to think those arguments were inconsistent with other parts of his theory. Weithman then shows that the changes Rawls introduced into his view between "Theory of Justice" and "Political Liberalism" result from his attempt to remove the inconsistency and show that the hazard of the generalized prisoner's dilemma can be averted after all. Recovering Rawls's two treatments of stability helps to answer contested questions about the role of the original position and the foundations of justice as fairness. The result is a powerful and unified reading of Rawls's work that explains his political turn and shows his enduring engagement with some of the deepest concerns of human life.

Zielgruppe

Rawls scholars; readers, scholars and students interested in political and moral philosophy.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Weithman

Weithman, Paul

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Ideologien Liberalismus, Libertarismus
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Sozialphilosophie, Politische Philosophie
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politikwissenschaft Allgemein Politische Theorie, Politische Philosophie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Introduction
Overview
The Road to Come
A Deeper Understanding of Justice as Fairness?
Unity, Theodicy and the Attractions of Liberalism
A Final Word to the Reader
1.: The Public Basis of View
2.: Stability and Congruence
3.: Ideals and Inconsistency
4.: The Acquisition of Four Desires
5.: Thin Reasons to be Just
6.: The Argument from Love and Justice
7.: Kantian Congruence and the Unified Self
8.: The Great Unraveling
9.: The Political Ideals of Justice as Fairness
10.: Comprehensive Reasons to be Just
Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

Paul Weithman, Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame