74 Quotes by John Rawls

The claims of existing social arrangements and of self interest have been duly allowed for. We cannot at the end count them a second time because we do not like the result.

The circumstances of justice may be described as the normal conditions under which human cooperation is both possible and necessary.

There are infinitely many variations of the initial situation and therefore no doubt indefinitely many theorems of moral geometry.

Intuitionism is not constructive, perfectionism is unacceptable.

An intuitionist conception of justice is, one might say, but half a conception.

The concept of justice I take to be defined, then, by the role of its principles in assigning rights and duties and in defining the appropriate division of social advantages. A conception of justice is an interpretation of this role.

Ideally citizens are to think of themselves as if they were legislators and ask themselves what statutes, supported by what reasons satisfying the criterion of reciprocity, they would think is most reasonable to enact.

When the basic structure of society is publicly known to satisfy its principles for an extended period of time, those subject to these arrangements tend to develop a desire to act in accordance with these principles and to do their part in institutions which exemplify them

Justice as fairness provides what we want.