Introduction The First Part of Ideal Theory The Law of Peoples as Realistic Utopia Why Peoples and Not States? Two Original Positions The Principles of the Law of Peoples Democratic Peace and Its Stability Society of Liberal Peoples: Its Public Reason The Second Part of Ideal Theory Toleration of Nonliberal Peoples Extension to Decent Hierarchical Peoples Decent Consultation Hierarchy Human Rights Comments on Procedure of the Law of Peoples Concluding Observations Nonideal Theory Just War Doctrine: The Right to War Just War Doctrine: Conduct of War Burdened Societies On Distributive Justice among Peoples Conclusion Public Reason and the Law of Peoples Reconcilation to Our Social World THE IDEA OF PUBLIC REASON REVISITED The Idea of Public Reason The Content of Public Reason Religion and Public Reason in Democracy The Wide View of Public Political Culture On the Family as Part of the Basic Structure Questions about Public Reason Conclusion Index
John Rawls was James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University. He was recipient of the 1999 National Humanities Medal.
[These essays are] some of [Rawls’s] strongest published
expressions of feeling… These are the final products of a
remarkably pure and concentrated career… The writings of John
Rawls, whom it is now safe to describe as the most important
political philosopher of the twentieth century…owe their influence
to the fact that their depth and their insight repay the close
attention that their uncompromising theoretical weight and
erudition demand.
*New Republic*
Rawls offers us the appealing vision of a social order that every
citizen finds legitimate despite large differences in their
personal values. In The Law of Peoples, he attempts a parallel feat
for global society. He tries to spell out a Law of Peoples that
both liberal and non-liberal peoples can agree upon to govern their
international relations. This involves steering a judicious
mid-course between liberalism’s imperialist and isolationist
tendencies… I should say straight away that this is the most
engaging and accessible book Rawls has written. Although some of
the daunting conceptual apparatus from Political Liberalism appears
from time to time, for the most part Rawls lays out his argument in
a straightforward way, and refers extensively to historical and
contemporary episodes to illustrate it.
*Times Literary Supplement*
John Rawls is one of the great political philosophers of the 20th
century… His ideas have not only sparked a lively debate among
philosophers, which continues to this day, but they have also been
taken up by economists, sociologists and others. So The Law of
Peoples, Mr. Rawls’s latest work and probably his last significant
effort, deserves to be read with interest, and some respect.
*The Economist*
Now, in an effort to turn realpolitik on its big, bald head, Rawls
in The Law of Peoples proposes to extend his historicist, pragmatic
notions of justice to the larger world of ‘peoples’—the term he
prefers to ‘nations.’ He lays out a series of general
principles—among them, that peoples are free and independent,
should honor human rights, and should observe a duty of
nonintervention—that can and should be accepted as a standard for
regulating their behavior toward one another. Without the slightest
hint of millenarian fever, he goes so far as to assert that we
stand on the brink of a ‘realistic utopia’… The Law of Peoples
seems likely to reframe the debate about what is possible in the
international realm. In contrast to the chastened, inward gaze of
most 20th-century thought, Rawls’s book is one of those rare works
of philosophy that directs its energies outward. It has the
potential to send shockingly optimistic reverberations through the
world at large, and maybe even jolt those somber-suited realists
right out of the realpolitik.
*Civilization*
Why should we care whether Rawls has modified his difference
principle so that it avoids unpopular outcomes? In the course of
doing so, he advances some excellent arguments.
*The Mises Review*
[These essays are] some of [Rawls's] strongest published
expressions of feeling... These are the final products of a
remarkably pure and concentrated career... The writings of John
Rawls, whom it is now safe to describe as the most important
political philosopher of the twentieth century...owe their
influence to the fact that their depth and their insight repay the
close attention that their uncompromising theoretical weight and
erudition demand. -- Thomas Nagel * New Republic *
Rawls offers us the appealing vision of a social order that every
citizen finds legitimate despite large differences in their
personal values. In The Law of Peoples, he attempts a
parallel feat for global society. He tries to spell out a Law of
Peoples that both liberal and non-liberal peoples can agree upon to
govern their international relations. This involves steering a
judicious mid-course between liberalism's imperialist and
isolationist tendencies... I should say straight away that this is
the most engaging and accessible book Rawls has written. Although
some of the daunting conceptual apparatus from Political
Liberalism appears from time to time, for the most part Rawls
lays out his argument in a straightforward way, and refers
extensively to historical and contemporary episodes to illustrate
it. -- David Miller * Times Literary Supplement *
John Rawls is one of the great political philosophers of the 20th
century... His ideas have not only sparked a lively debate among
philosophers, which continues to this day, but they have also been
taken up by economists, sociologists and others. So The Law of
Peoples, Mr. Rawls's latest work and probably his last
significant effort, deserves to be read with interest, and some
respect. * The Economist *
Now, in an effort to turn realpolitik on its big, bald head, Rawls
in The Law of Peoples proposes to extend his historicist,
pragmatic notions of justice to the larger world of 'peoples'-the
term he prefers to 'nations.' He lays out a series of general
principles-among them, that peoples are free and independent,
should honor human rights, and should observe a duty of
nonintervention-that can and should be accepted as a standard for
regulating their behavior toward one another. Without the slightest
hint of millenarian fever, he goes so far as to assert that we
stand on the brink of a 'realistic utopia'... The Law of
Peoples seems likely to reframe the debate about what is
possible in the international realm. In contrast to the chastened,
inward gaze of most 20th-century thought, Rawls's book is one of
those rare works of philosophy that directs its energies outward.
It has the potential to send shockingly optimistic reverberations
through the world at large, and maybe even jolt those somber-suited
realists right out of the realpolitik. -- Will Blythe *
Civilization *
Why should we care whether Rawls has modified his difference
principle so that it avoids unpopular outcomes? In the course of
doing so, he advances some excellent arguments. * The Mises Review
*
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