Philosophy Pages
| Dictionary | Study Guide | Logic | F A Q s | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| History | Timeline | Philosophers | Locke | |||
| Philosophy Pages
| Dictionary | Study Guide | Logic | F A Q s | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| History | Timeline | Philosophers | Locke | |||
A Theory of Justice
Political Liberalism
In The Law of Peoples, Rawls extends his principles to the international sphere, proposing a "realistic utopia" of world-wide cooperation despite the pluralism of cultures. Liberal societies preserve their internal stability in the formation of social institutions and practices that are democratic, reasonable, and just; as Rawls has shown, this requires individuals from different backgrounds to share in a common set of principles for governance. In similar fashion, the "Law of Peoples" secures peace among reasonable societies; despite the differences in their faiths and cultures, each may cooperate for the sake of all. (Note from the outset that it is peoples, not states or governments, among whom Rawls hopes to establish the requisite agreement.
We begin with the original position as a model for reasonable decision-making among individuals joined together in a society. Now, in its second application, the original position holds among diverse peoples, securing their just interests with respect to others. The result, Rawls believes, would be the adoption of a set of principles for cooperation among peoples, including freedom, reliability, equality, non-intervention, non-agression, respect for human rights, restricted conduct of war, and a duty to assist disfavored peoples.
Although it is easiest to imagine adoption of these principles among peoples who already guarantee the constitutional liberties of individuals in their own population, Rawls argues that even non-liberal peoples may be tolerated at the international level, provided only that they are decent in their respect for human rights and the limitation of aggressive conduct. Thus, even peoples organized in a hierarchical social structure may participate fully in the Law of Peoples, and its scope is universal in principle.
In fact, of course, there are likely to be "outlaw" states that fail even to attain the standard of decency in their international relations, and that raises the possibility of just wars. Although no liberal people would behave agressively, any liberal people may make war in self-defense. Even then, according to Rawls, it is vital to distinguish among the outlaw regime that initiates aggression, the soldiers who carry it out, and the civilian population it controls.
Rawls also emphasizes the special obligation that favored peoples have to assist those less favorably situated in economic, social, or natural circumstance. Although there will remain reasonable limits on the extent to which this obligation reaches, it points the way toward the achievement of distributive justice among peoples.
Thus, Rawls believes that diverse peoples, whose "comprehensive doctrines" about life and society may be incompatible with each other, may nevertheless reach agreement on the major issues that arise in international cooperation. Acceptance of what he calls "the basic facts" -- reasonable pluralism, unity in diversity, public reason, and democratic peace -- results in the formation of a reasonably just society of peoples. Once again, the use of the original position as a model for reasonable discourse about social practices can triumph over more narrow concerns with religious or social homogeneity.
