A Social-Legal- Political Theory in Rawls

Abstract

This article aims to present the notion of justice, based on the book The Theory of Justice (1971) by John Rawls . The intention is to delimit the aspects that refer to political philosophy and philosophy of right, in order to show that Rawls' theory goes beyond the legal-political approach, also encompassing the social, insofar as, although the principles display a top-down approach, the theory aims at social cooperation, whose presupposition is the idea of human solidarity, that is, the common good for all. In this sense, my article will focus on the concept of justice and its philosophical, legal and social aspects. In the first part of the Theory of Justice, Rawls defines the basic ideas that will develop throughout the book. In the second part, he postulates the importance of actualizing a constitutional democracy for the application of what was set up in the initial part of the book. In the third part, he discusses the relationship between justice, social values and the common good. In the vast theoretical world of this book, the following items will be presented: the concepts of justice; the main idea of the theory of justice; the object of justice; the principle of freedom; the principle of equality; the principle of difference and redress; lastly, the veil of ignorance, emphasizing the political, legal aspects and making explicit the implicit social aspects.