The Law of Peoples : With “The Idea of Public Reason Revisited”

This book consists of two parts: the essay "The Idea of Public Reason Revisited," first published in 1997, and "The Law of Peoples," a major reworking of a much shorter article by the same name published in 1993. Taken together, they are the culmination of more than fifty years of reflection on liberalism and on some of the most pressing problems of our times by John Rawls. "The Idea of Public Reason Revisited" explains why the constraints of public reason, a concept first discussed in Political Liberalism (1993), are ones that holders of both religious and non-religious comprehensive views can reasonably endorse. It is Rawls's most detailed account of how a modern constitutional democracy, based on a liberal political conception, could and would be viewed as legitimate by reasonable citizens who on religious, philosophical, or moral grounds do not themselves accept a liberal comprehensive doctrine--such as that of Kant, or Mill, or Rawls's own "Justice as Fairness," presented in A Theory of Justice (1971). The Law of Peoples extends the idea of a social contract to the Society of Peoples and lays out the general principles that can and should be accepted by both liberal and non-liberal societies as the standard for regulating their behavior toward one another. In particular, it draws a crucial distinction between basic human rights and the rights of each citizen of a liberal constitutional democracy. It explores the terms under which such a society may appropriately wage war against an "outlaw society," and discusses the moral grounds for rendering assistance to non-liberal societies burdened by unfavorable political and economic conditions.

This book consists of two parts: the essay "The Idea of Public Reason Revisited," first published in 1997, and "The Law of Peoples," a major reworking of a much shorter article by the same name published in 1993. Taken together, they are the culmination of more than fifty years of reflection on liberalism and on some of the most pressing problems of our times by John Rawls.

"The Idea of Public Reason Revisited" explains why the constraints of public reason, a concept first discussed in Political Liberalism (1993), are ones that holders of both religious and non-religious comprehensive views can reasonably endorse. It is Rawls's most detailed account of how a modern constitutional democracy, based on a liberal political conception, could and would be viewed as legitimate by reasonable citizens who on religious, philosophical, or moral grounds do not themselves accept a liberal comprehensive doctrine—such as that of Kant, or Mill, or Rawls's own "Justice as Fairness," presented in A Theory of Justice (1971).

The Law of Peoples extends the idea of a social contract to the Society of Peoples and lays out the general principles that can and should be accepted by both liberal and non-liberal societies as the standard for regulating their behavior toward one another. In particular, it draws a crucial distinction between basic human rights and the rights of each citizen of a liberal constitutional democracy. It explores the terms under which such a society may appropriately wage war against an "outlaw society," and discusses the moral grounds for rendering assistance to non-liberal societies burdened by unfavorable political and economic conditions.

The Mises Review

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.

This book consists of two parts: “The Law of Peoples,” a major reworking of a much shorter article by the same name published in 1993, and the essay “The Idea of Public Reason Revisited,” first published in 1997. Taken together, they are the culmination of more than fifty years of reflection on liberalism and on some of the most pressing problems of our times by John Rawls.“The Law of Peoples” extends the idea of a social contract to the Society of Peoples and lays out the general principles that can and should be accepted by both liberal and non-liberal societies as the standard for regulating their behavior toward one another. In particular, it draws a crucial distinction between basic human rights and the rights of each citizen of a liberal constitutional democracy. It explores the terms under which such a society may appropriately wage war against an “outlaw society” and discusses the moral grounds for rendering assistance to non-liberal societies burdened by unfavorable political and economic conditions.“The Idea of Public Reason Revisited” explains why the constraints of public reason, a concept first discussed in Political Liberalism (1993), are ones that holders of both religious and non-religious comprehensive views can reasonably endorse. It is Rawls's most detailed account of how a modern constitutional democracy, based on a liberal political conception, could and would be viewed as legitimate by reasonable citizens who on religious, philosophical, or moral grounds do not themselves accept a liberal comprehensive doctrine—such as that of Kant, or Mill, or Rawls's own “Justice as Fairness,” presented in A Theory of Justice (1971). This book consists of two parts: The Law of Peoples, a major reworking of a much shorter article by the same name published in 1993, and the essay The Idea of Public Reason Revisited, first published in 1997. Taken together, they are the culmination of more than fifty years of reflection on liberalism and on some of the most pressing problems of our times by John Rawls. The Law of Peoples extends the idea of a social contract to the Society of Peoples and lays out the general principles that can and should be accepted by both liberal and non-liberal societies as the standard for regulating their behavior toward one another. In particular, it draws a crucial distinction between basic human rights and the rights of each citizen of a liberal constitutional democracy. It explores the terms under which such a society may appropriately wage war against an outlaw society and discusses the moral grounds for rendering assistance to non-liberal societies burdened by unfavorable political and economic conditions. The Idea of Public Reason Revisited explains why the constraints of public reason, a concept first discussed in Political Liberalism (1993), are ones that holders of both religious and non-religious comprehensive views can reasonably endorse. It is Rawlss most detailed account of how a modern constitutional democracy, based on a liberal political conception, could and would be viewed as legitimate by reasonable citizens who on religious, philosophical, or moral grounds do not themselves accept a liberal comprehensive doctrinesuch as that of Kant, or Mill, or Rawlss own Justice as Fairness, presented in A Theory of Justice (1971). This work consists of two parts: the essay The Idea of Public Reason Revisited, first published in 1997, and The Law of Peoples, a major reworking of a much shorter article by the same name published in 1993. Taken together, they are the culmination of more than 50 years of reflection on liberalism anon some of the most pressing problems of our times by John Rawls. The first essay explains why the constraints of public reason, a concept first discussed in Political Liberalism (1993), are ones that holders of both religious and non-religious comprehensive views can reasonably endorse. it is rawls's most detailed account of how a modern constitutional democracy, based on a liberal political conception, could and would be viewed as legitimate by reasonable citizens who on religious, philosophical, or moral grounds do not themselves accept a liberal comprehensive doctrine - such as that of Kant, or Mill, or Rawls's own justice as fairness, presented in A Theory of Justice (1971). The second essay extends the idea of a social contract to the society of peoples and lays out the general principles that can and should be accepted by both liberal and non-liberal societies as the standard for regulating their behaviour toward one another. In particular, it draws a crucial distinction between basic human rights and the rights of each citizen of a liberal constitutional democracy. It explores the terms under which such a society may appropriately wage war against an outlaw society, and discusses the moral grounds for rendering assistance to non-liberal societies burdened by unfavourable political and economic conditions Contents......Page 7 The Law of Peoples......Page 9 Introduction......Page 10 § 1. The Law of Peoples as Realistic Utopia......Page 18 §2. Why Peoples and Not States?......Page 30 §3. Two Original Positions......Page 37 §4. The Principles of the Law of Peoples......Page 42 §5. Democratic Peace and Its Stability......Page 51 §6. Society of Liberal Peoples: Its Public Reason......Page 61 §7. Toleration of Nonliberal Peoples......Page 66 §8. Extension to Decent Hierarchical Peoples......Page 69 §9. Decent Consultation Hierarchy......Page 78 §10. Human Rights......Page 85 §11. Comments on Procedure of the Law of Peoples......Page 89 §12. Concluding Observations......Page 92 §13. Just War Doctrine: The Right to War......Page 96 §14. Just War Doctrine: Conduct of War......Page 101 §15. Burdened Societies......Page 112 §16. On Distributive Justice among Peoples......Page 120 §17. Public Reason and the Law of Peoples......Page 128 §18. Reconciliation to Our Social World......Page 131 The Idea of Public Reason Revisited......Page 136 §1. The Idea of Public Reason......Page 138 §2. The Content of Public Reason......Page 146 §3. Religion and Public Reason in Democracy......Page 155 §4. The Wide View of Public Political Culture......Page 158 §5. On the Family as Part of the Basic Structure......Page 162 §6. Questions about Public Reason......Page 170 §7. Conclusion......Page 181 Index......Page 187 Contents 7 The Law of Peoples 9 Introduction 10 PART I The First Part of Ideal Theory 18 § 1. The Law of Peoples as Realistic Utopia 18 §2. Why Peoples and Not States? 30 §3. Two Original Positions 37 §4. The Principles of the Law of Peoples 42 §5. Democratic Peace and Its Stability 51 §6. Society of Liberal Peoples: Its Public Reason 61 PART II The Second Part of Ideal Theory 66 §7. Toleration of Nonliberal Peoples 66 §8. Extension to Decent Hierarchical Peoples 69 §9. Decent Consultation Hierarchy 78 §10. Human Rights 85 §11. Comments on Procedure of the Law of Peoples 89 §12. Concluding Observations 92 PART III Nonideal Theory 96 §13. Just War Doctrine: The Right to War 96 §14. Just War Doctrine: Conduct of War 101 §15. Burdened Societies 112 §16. On Distributive Justice among Peoples 120 PART IV Conclusion 128 §17. Public Reason and the Law of Peoples 128 §18. Reconciliation to Our Social World 131 The Idea of Public Reason Revisited 136 §1. The Idea of Public Reason 138 §2. The Content of Public Reason 146 §3. Religion and Public Reason in Democracy 155 §4. The Wide View of Public Political Culture 158 §5. On the Family as Part of the Basic Structure 162 §6. Questions about Public Reason 170 §7. Conclusion 181 Index 187 9780674000797 "This book consists of two parts: the essay "The Idea of Public Reason Revisited," first published in 1997, and "The Law of Peoples," a major reworking of a much shorter article by the same name published in 1993. Taken together, they are the culmination of more than fifty years of reflection by John Rawls on liberalism and on some of the most pressing problems of our times."--BOOK JACKET.