As free persons, citizens recognize one another as having the moral power to have a conception of the good. This means that they do not view themselves as inevitably tied to the pursuit of the particular conception of the good and its final ends which they espouse at any given time.

— John Rawls

John Rawls Quotes

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.

— 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.

— John Rawls

The fundamental criterion for judging any procedure is the justice of its likely results.

— John Rawls

It is of first importance that the military be subordinate to civilian government.

— John Rawls

The strength of the claims of formal justice, of obedience to system, clearly depend upon the substantive justice of institutions and the possibilities of their reform.

— John Rawls

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.

— John Rawls

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

— John Rawls

Intuitionism is not constructive, perfectionism is unacceptable.

— John Rawls

No one deserves his greater natural capacity nor merits a more favorable starting place in society.

— John Rawls

If A were not allowed his better position, B would be even worse off than he is.

— John Rawls

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

— John Rawls

We may suppose that everyone has in himself the whole form of a moral conception.

— John Rawls

Certainly it is wrong to be cruel to animals and the destruction of a whole species can be a great evil. The capacity for feelings of pleasure and pain and for the form of life of which animals are capable clearly impose duties of compassion and humanity in their case.

— John Rawls

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.

— John Rawls

There is a divergence between private and social accounting that the market fails to register. One essential task of law and government is to institute the necessary conditions.

— John Rawls

The principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance.

— John Rawls

Justice

I have tried to set forth a theory that enables us to understand and to assess these feelings about the primacy of justice. Justice as fairness is the outcome: it articulates these opinions and supports their general tendency.

— John Rawls

The hazards of the generalized prisoner’s dilemma are removed by the match between the right and the good.

— John Rawls

Clearly when the liberties are left unrestricted they collide with one another.

— John Rawls

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

— John Rawls

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