Darulhadis İslami Araştırmalar Dergisi (Dec 2022)
John Rawls’ Justice As Fairness: A Political Conception
Abstract
The impact of John Rawls’ “justice as fairness” in contemporary society is far and wide since it provides an ethos and condition of fairness as the essential factor in the dispense of justice in the public domain. In this regard, it could be inferred that Rawls’ concept of justice accounts for political liberalism in such a way that central to justice are respect, equality, rationality, reasonableness, freedom, and autonomy of the person that is carried over in the public domain. What made Rawls different is the idea that “justice” and “rationality” can motivate people to undertake social cooperation. As society provides the setting for individuation and the pursuit of good, it motivates people to pursue social collaboration because it is good. Considering the fact that pluralism and diversity of worldviews frame the social life of the individual, Rawls uses the approach of political liberalism to decipher the connection between the individual and the state. Rawls’ political liberalism assumes that shared ideals of justice between different reasonable comprehensive views are possible, and this underlies the basic structure of society and social cooperation. An important aspect of “justice as fairness” is that it does not claim to provide a complete moral or metaphysical doctrine or interpretation of what justice is all about. Instead, “justice as fairness” emphasizes the act of making decisions and choices. Rawls' "justice as fairness" has brought transcendent justice into the domain of human decisions and choices. This article will make a critical assessment of political liberalism to justify “justice as fairness as a political concept”.
