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JOHN RAWLS (1921-2002). GIANT ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS 289
The Plurality of Conceptions of the Good
In later articles and in the book Political Liberalism (1993), Rawls
was particularly concerned with the importance for a society of a
shared conception of justice. A society marked by different world views
and religions, and of a plurality of conceptions of the good, must still
have some such common conception to secure trust and compliance
with the social institutions over time. Rawls claimed that his justification
for distributive principles draws on assumptions about the value
of individuals and the role of society that can command overlapping
consensus across a variety of world views. The theory can be a common
factor in many religious and philosophical views that for instance
disagree about why individuals should be treated as equals by the
social institutions. Or so he hoped.
Revisions of A Theory of Justice
Rawls had sought to defend his principles with great care. Yet his
contributions did not escape controversy. Indeed, his analytical training
led him to present premises and chains of reasoning as clearly as
possible, which made it easier for others to identify controversial
premises, weaknesses and faults. Thus A Theory of Justice has been criticised
on many counts, criticisms that led Rawls to expand, revise and
improve on his theory. He sometimes rephrased his earlier claims, sometimes
regarded the criticism as misguided, and sometimes chan-ged his
views in light of the arguments. Even though he changed his views on
several points, he chose to only modify A Theory of Justice slightly for a
revised version in 1999. A briefer book stating his revised position, Justice
as Fairness, appeared in 2001 at Harvard University Press. He also wrote
about international justice in the book Law of Peoples (1999).
The Person
To give a sketch of John Rawls the person is more difficult than
to give a brief account of his contributions to political philosophy.
The thinker was modest, almost shy, and avoided media attention both
in his career choice and in his mode of dissemination. He spent his
working life in the academic community, at Harvard University from
1962 until he retired in 1991, and never sought publicity.
Rawls was born in Maryland in 1921, and grew up in the Southern
part of the United States, where he observed that the blacks suffered