A Theory of Justice can be Defended Against Sandel’s Critique of Rawls’ Conception of the Self

Ngaiza, Raymond Edward (2009) A Theory of Justice can be Defended Against Sandel’s Critique of Rawls’ Conception of the Self. Masters thesis, University of London.

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Abstract

The main thesis of this paper is that A Theory of Justice can be defended against Sandel’s critique of Rawls’ conception of the self. The defence consists in the fact that Rawls’ A Theory of Justice is not primarily meant to present us with a full conception of the self. Nor is it intended to portray a phenomenological conception of the self within a historical and concrete situation, depicting a human person in the society. The primary goal of Rawls’ theory is actually to present us with the principles of justice. Since Rawls needs to rely on a certain conception of the self in developing his theory, he depicts it as a hypothetical self, situated in an ahistorical situation. This is because Rawls argues for his theory from the perspective of the social contract theory that does not pretend to represent the actual historical situation, let alone the “thick” conception of the human person. Rawls’ theory aims at inviting us to think about how justice would have been differently conceived in a hypothetical situation. It is a thought-experiment in search of principles of justice, should certain conditions be put into account.

Item Type: Thesis (Masters)
Uncontrolled Keywords: Theory Of Justice, The Conception Of The Self, Sandel’s Critique Of Rawls’ Conception Of The Self, Objections To Sandel’s Critique On The Basis Of A Theory Of Justice, A Further Defense In View Of Rawls’ Later Writings, A General Assessment Of Rawls In View Of Sandel’s Critique
Subjects: B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BD Speculative Philosophy
Divisions: Comparative
Depositing User: JHI Africa
Date Deposited: 16 Apr 2014 05:51
Last Modified: 19 Mar 2018 08:11
URI: http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/77

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