Rawls, John / [Provenance: Henry David Aiken Collection].

“Justice as Fairness” [First Edition of the First Appearance of John Rawls’ Theory of “Justice as Fairness” which would lead to “A Theory of Justice”. This is the very rare Double Number of the separate Double Number-Issue in its original wrappers-version; Provenance: from the library of John Rawls’ friend, Henry David Aiken. [in: “The Journal of Philosophy” – Volume LIV. No.222: October 24, 1957 (Double Number) – Contents: American Philosophical Association Eastern Division – Symposium Papers – To be presented at the Fifty-Fourth Annual Meeting, Harvard University, December 27-29, 1957: Symposium: “Justice a Fairness” – I. “Justice as Fairness”: John Rawls [pages 653 – 651] / II.Justice as Fairness: “A Modernized Version of the Social Contract”: Everett W. Hall [pages 662 – 669] / Symposium: “The Evidence for Esthetic Judgment” – I. “The Importance of a Choice of Context”: Mortimer R. Kadish [pages 670 – 678] / II. On the Grounds of Esthetic Judgment: Albert Hofstadter [pages 679 – 687] / Symposium: “Substance and Form in Aristotle” – I. “Substance and Form in Aristotle”: Wilfrid Sellars [pages 688 – 698] / II. Forms of Particular Substances in Aristotle’s Metaphysics: Rogers Albritton [pages 699 – 707]//

New York, The Journal of Philosophy, 1957. Octavo. pages 653 – 712. Original Offprint / Stapled Wrappers. Very good condition with some minor signs of wear only and some mild staining to front and rear wrapper. From the library of Professor Henry David Aiken.

John Bordley Rawls (February 21, 1921 – November 24, 2002) was an American moral and political philosopher in the liberal tradition. Rawls received both the Schock Prize for Logic and Philosophy and the National Humanities Medal in 1999, the latter presented by President Bill Clinton, in recognition of how Rawls’s work “revived the disciplines of political and ethical philosophy with his argument that a society in which the most fortunate help the least fortunate is not only a moral society but a logical one”.

In 1990, Will Kymlicka wrote in his introduction to the field that “it is generally accepted that the recent rebirth of normative political philosophy began with the publication of John Rawls’s A Theory of Justice in 1971”. Rawls has often been described as one of the most influential political philosophers of the 20th century. He has the unusual distinction among contemporary political philosophers of being frequently cited by the courts of law in the United States and Canada and referred to by practising politicians in the United States and the United Kingdom. In a 2008 national survey of political theorists, based on 1,086 responses from professors at accredited, four-year colleges and universities in the United States, Rawls was voted 1st on the list of “Scholars Who Have Had the Greatest Impact on Political Theory in the Past 20 Years”.

Rawls’s theory of “justice as fairness” recommends equal basic liberties, equality of opportunity, and facilitating the maximum benefit to the least advantaged members of society in any case where inequalities may occur. Rawls’s argument for these principles of social justice uses a thought experiment called the “original position”, in which people deliberately select what kind of society they would choose to live in if they did not know which social position they would personally occupy. In his later work Political Liberalism (1993), Rawls turned to the question of how political power could be made legitimate given reasonable disagreement about the nature of the good life. (Wikipedia)

• Keywords: Aiken, Henry David · Catalogue One – History of Law · Henry David Aiken – Collection · John Rawls · John Rawls – Justice as Fairness · Law – Rare · Pamphlets Collection – Harvard · Social History – Rare · Social Justice · Social Philosophy
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 31138AB

EUR 7.500,--