The Cambridge Companion to Rawls

Each volume of this series of companions to major philosophers contains specially commissioned essays by an international team of scholars and will serve as a reference work for students and nonspecialists. John Rawls is the most significant and influential philosopher and moral philosopher of the twentieth century. His work has profoundly shaped contemporary discussions of social, political and economic justice in philosophy, law, political science, economics and other social disciplines. In this exciting collection of new essays, many of the world’s leading political and moral theorists discuss the full range of Rawls’s contribution to the concepts of political and economic justice, democracy, liberalism, constitutionalism, and international justice. There are also assessments of Rawls’s controversial relationships with feminism, utilitarianism and communitarianism. New readers will find this the most accessible guide to Rawls currently available. Advanced students and specialists will find a conspectus of recent developments in the interpretation of Rawls.

• Most important philosophy Companion of recent years - deals with foremost political philosopher of the twentieth century • Starry list of contributors includes many major figures in their own right (e.g. Tom Nagel, T. M. Scanlon, Onora O’Neill, Martha Nussbaum, Charles Larmore) • Very broad appeal across philosophy, political science, law, economics and sociology

Introduction: John Rawls - an overview Samuel Freeman; 1. Rawls and liberalism Thomas Nagel; 2. For a democratic society Joshua Cohen; 3. Rawls on justification T. M. Scanlon; 4. Rawls on the relationship between liberalism and democracy Amy Gutmann; 5. Difference principles Philippe van Parijs; 6. Democratic equality: Rawls’s complex egalitarianism Norman Daniels; 7. Congruence and the good of justice Samuel Freeman; 8. On Rawls Burton Dreben; 9. Constructivism in Rawls and Kant Onora O’Neill; 10. Public reason Charles Larmore; 11. Rawls on constitutionalism and constitutional law Frank I. Michelman; 12. Rawls and utilitarianism Samuel Scheffler; 13. Rawls and communitarianism Stephen Mulhall and Adam Swift; 14. Rawls and feminism Martha Nussbaum.

\'Chapters complement each other well, overlap is minimal, and the level (accessible for beginners, interesting for specialists) is maintained. This addition to a well-established series will go into any self-respecting collection in the field, and personal, and the paperback is certainly a perfect gift for a student at the right time. Well-bound and elegantly type-set, with a superb index, this Companion adds to a literature on Rawls that is likely to grow a lot more in the future.\'

– Reference Reviews

‘There can be little doubt that Rawls will continue to be read and appreciated and this edited compilation is a worthy tribute to his legacy. A constellation of distinguished legal, moral and political philosophers … outline, extend and critique various facets of his work … an important and timely book. It provides an excellent and sophisticated overview of a noble project, and it should be an essential addition to the library of political theorists.’

– Cambridge Review of International Affairs