John Rawls Quotes

79 Sourced Quotes

To each according to his threat advantage does not count as a principle of justice.

John Rawls
Inequalities are permissible when they maximize, or at least all contribute to, the long term expectations of the least fortunate group in society.

John Rawls
The perspective of eternity is not a perspective from a certain place beyond the world, nor the point of view of a transcendent being; rather it is a certain form of thought and feeling that rational persons can adopt within the world... Purity of heart, if one could attain it, would be to see clearly and to act with grace and self-command from this point of view.

John Rawls
Yet it seems extraordinary that the justice of increasing the expectations of the better placed by a billion dollars, say, should turn on whether the prospects of the least favored increase or decrease by a penny.

John Rawls
Many conservative writers have contended that the tendency to equality in modern social movements is the expression of envy. In this way they seek to discredit this trend, attributing it to collectively harmful impulses.

John Rawls
It may be expedient but it is not just that some should have less in order that others may prosper.

John Rawls
We must not be enticed by mathematically attractive assumptions into pretending that the contingencies of men's social positions and the asymmetries of their situations somehow even out in the end. Rather we must choose our conception of justice fully recognizing that this is not and cannot be the case.

John Rawls
The even larger difference between rich and poor makes the latter even worse off, and this violates the principal of mutual advantage.

John Rawls
Let us now consider whether justice requires the toleration of the intolerant, and if so under what conditions. There are a variety of situations in which this question arises. Some political parties in democratic states hold doctrines that commit them to suppress the constitutional liberties whenever they have the power. Again, there are those who reject intellectual freedom but who nevertheless hold positions in the university. It may appear that toleration in these cases is inconsistent with the principles of justice, or at any rate not required by them.

John Rawls
Our concern is solely with the basic structure of society and its major institutions and therefore with the standard cases of social justice.

John Rawls
Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override.

John Rawls
In justice as fairness society is interpreted as a cooperative venture for mutual advantage.

John Rawls
Intuitionism is not constructive, perfectionism is unacceptable.

John Rawls
An individual who finds that he enjoys seeing others in positions of lesser liberty understands that he has no claim whatever to this enjoyment.

John Rawls
First of all, principles should be general. That is, it must be possible to formulate them without use of what would be intuitively recognized as proper names, or rigged definite descriptions.

John Rawls
If A were not allowed his better position, B would be even worse off than he is.

John Rawls
Justice does not require that men must stand idly by while others destroy the basis of their existence.

John Rawls
In all sectors of society there should be roughly equal prospects of culture and achievement for everyone similarly motivated and endowed. The expectations of those with the same abilities and aspirations should not be affected by their social class.

John Rawls
An intolerant sect has no right to complain when it is denied an equal liberty. … A person's right to complain is limited to principles he acknowledges himself.

John Rawls